ROCKINGHAM — When Richmond Senior High School’s varsity girls basketball team welcomed Lumberton on Feb. 5, the Lady Raiders used a big first quarter run and dynamic shooting from seniors Jakerra Covington and Jayla McDougald to easily down the Lady Pirates 59-42. In Friday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament fifth place game, No. 4 Richmond mirrored that effort by starting its game with a 15-2 run against No. 6 Lumberton en route to a 58-44 victory at Raider Gym.
McDougald and Covington, who finished the game with 20 and 14 points respectively, each tallied seven points in the opening quarter. A 3-pointer from freshman Ryelan Lyerly and a layup from senior Asia Douglas also contributed to Richmond’s 19-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Lumberton temporarily stopped the bleeding with a pair of free throws to start the second quarter, but the Lady Raiders responded with an eight-point run.
After Junior Jamiya Ratliff layed one in for two, Covington stripped the ball away on the Lady Pirates’ ensuing possession, ran the length of the floor for a breakaway layup, and was fouled in the process. She connected on the free throw to complete the old fashioned three-point play before Lyerly added a modern 3-pointer from the left corner to put Richmond ahead 27-7.
From that point, the two teams traded baskets with each team netting eight, sending the Lady Raiders into the break with a 35-15 advantage.
The third quarter started with more of the same. Four early Lumberton points were quickly erased by a McDougald triple and a Ratliff putback. Junior Alliyah Swiney followed with two free throws, giving Richmond it’s largest lead of the game at 42-19 with 6:04 remaining in the third.
Things became a little tense a few moments later. As plays began to get more physical, questions from both benches about the lack of fouls being called could easily be heard in the near-empty gym.
Richmond was tagged with a pair of technical fouls. The first was issued to Richmond Head Coach Teddy Mosely for disagreeing with the continued no-calls by the officials. Moments later, McDougald was tagged with a technical after she got locked into a physical battle over possession of a loose ball that lasted for several seconds and voicing her aggravation over the play.
Lumberton used the opportunity to chip away at the Richmond lead, but the Lady Raiders were still ahead 48-33 at the end of the third.
McDougald responded by scoring eight of Richmond’s 10 points in the final stanza to help secure the win.
Lyerly finished the game with nine points, Douglas netted six, Swiney had five, and Ratliff finished the game with four.
With a shortened season also comes a shortened postseason. Because fewer teams will earn playoff berths, the Lady Raiders’ fourth-place conference finish during the regular season will not be enough to earn a spot in this season’s NCHSAA 4A playoffs. Richmond ‘s season ends at 7-5, 6-4 SAC.
