SANFORD — Thursday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference matchup between Richmond and Southern Lee followed a similar script from the two teams’ first meeting in early December.
Completing the season sweep of the Cavaliers, the Raiders used a career-high 23 points from sophomore guard Javian Drake to defeat Southern Lee 71-50.
In the first meeting on Dec. 7, the Raiders also cruised past the Cavaliers 70-44.
“It was a good win tonight, a team win,” head coach Donald Pettigrew said. “We’re just trying to stay ahead of the conference and ahead of the RPI.
“We have a lot of respect for Coach Collins and Southern Lee, and they came out ready to fight,” he added. “We were able to run a lot of sets and we worked on getting crisper with a lot of those. We have to be able to execute sets down the stretch and in the playoffs.”
Two other Raiders had double-digit scoring performances, including 19 points and six rebounds from sophomore Paul McNeil. Junior forward Zion Baldwin added 12 points and a team-high eight boards.
A total of six Raiders scored in the win, with junior guard Dakota Chavis finishing with 9 points. Senior Will Dawkins scored all six of his points and grabbed his four rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Senior Deshon Watson rounded out the scoring with two points, which came in the third quarter.
Both teams played evenly in the first quarter, battling out to a 13-13 tie. The Raiders started the game on a 10-6 run, but a 5-1 stretch in the final two minutes by the Cavs (3-13, 2-6 SAC) tied it up.
McNeil started his scoring with six points in the first, Baldwin had two putbacks for four points and Drake knocked down a pair of free throws. Chavis also had one free throw in the opening period.
Trailing by two points early in the second, the Raiders used a 17-0 run to break the game open.
Only two players found the basket for Richmond in the second, led by Drake who scored 13 points. He had four field goals, a triple and two free throws. Chavis added the other six points, splashing down a triple from the left wing, a field goal and a free throw.
At the intermission, the Raiders held a 32-21 lead.
Junior Zion Baldwin (10) pulls down one of his eight rebounds in Thursday’s win. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
“Zion had great hustle tonight,” Pettigrew said. “He had six offensive rebounds and in one possession he had four offensive rebounds. He has a high motor and plays with a lot of intensity, and that’s what we expect out of him.
“JV (Drake) needed a game like this,” he added. “He scored 14 on Tuesday and then had a career-high 23 tonight. This is the kind of performance we know he can have to help us win.”
Twenty more points by the Raiders, spread across five players, saw their lead grow to as many as 17 points in the third quarter. Baldwin had his final eight points in the game, including a putback on the first possession.
A three-pointer from the left wing by Drake, the first of his five points in the third, ignited a 18-11 run by the Raiders. McNeil added to his point total with a deep three from the top of the arc.
A Chavis transition bucket and a drive through the paint by Watson gave Richmond a 52-35 lead heading into the final period.
Dawkins scored his first points of the night on a spinning jumper in the paint in the opening seconds of the fourth, and later added two more buckets from close range. Drake capped his career night with a three-pointer from the left side.
McNeil took over the scoring with 10 points in the fourth, coming on a pair of triples, a mid-range jumper and two free throws.
Leading the Cavaliers with 17 points was Isaiah Upchurch, who scored seven points in the first half and 10 points in the second half. Jaequan Williams followed with 15 points and Joshua Stone chipped in six points.
“We need to continue to stay in the right mindset,” Pettigrew closed. “That’s in the classroom, in the weight room and on the court. Our success starts with the boys having a good day at school tomorrow.”
Richmond (18-1, 8-1 SAC) will cap its three-game week on Friday with a road trip to last-place Lee County High School (2-15, 0-8 SAC).
It will be the first meeting between the Raiders and Yellow Jackets this season, set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
