ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior High School varsity boys’ basketball team won five of its six games during the Raider Classic Jamboree.
Hosted by Richmond, the two-day tournament welcomed in a dozen high school programs from North and South Carolina.
Playing three games each day, with two 20-minute halves and a running clock, the Raiders earned two wins on Wednesday, before sweeping their competition on Thursday.
Head coach Donald Pettigrew said the jamboree was all about getting his players, as well as those of other teams around the region, some much-needed time on the hardwood.
“This is something we started doing my second year and it’s just to get guys some games during the summer,” Pettigrew explained. “It also lets other programs see what kind of guys we have in our county and it’s been good for us, especially getting younger guys some playing experience.”
On Wednesday, Richmond defeated Marlboro County High School 62-45 to kick things off. That was followed by a 60-31 win over Terry Sanford High School, before falling 56-37 to New Life Christian Academy.
Richmond’s Thursday schedule started with a 51-19 rout of Gray’s Creek High School.
In their second game, the Raiders defeated Pine Forest High School 62-57 in overtime. Rising sophomore Paul McNeil netted 36 points in that game, shooting 14-for-21 from the floor.
In their final game of the jamboree, the Raiders rolled past Union Pines High School 61-30, which will be a new conference opponent during the next four years.
“The last two days, it was great watching how well the guys played together,” Pettigrew said. “A lot of them have been playing with the Jammers since third or fourth grade, so they already have that chemistry.
“Some of the things we worked on was getting used to how I coach and the stuff we do at the varsity level,” he added. “We’ll keep building that trust with each other. Offensively we can score with anyone, and our focus will be on defense, which will put us over the top.”
Pettigrew and company will return to action with several more summer league games in the coming week, starting with a trip to Chesterfield High School on Monday.
Richmond will also play games at UNC-Charlotte on Wednesday, in Wilmington on Friday and cap the weekend with games in Winston-Salem.
Lady Raiders improve to 4-0 in summer league
Also playing on Thursday, the Richmond Senior High School varsity girls’ basketball team picked up another win in its summer league.
Facing off against Chatham Charter School, the Lady Raiders and head coach Teddy Moseley used three double-digit scoring efforts to win 56-37.
Rising freshman point guard Jamyia Lindsey led the way with 15 points, while rising sophomore shooting guard Keyoni Nichols had 14 points.
Rising junior Kyla Sampson followed up her 21-point game from earlier in the week with 11 points against Chatham Charter.
The Lady Raiders will return to action on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. against Asheboro High School. The game will be played at Uwharrie Charter Academy, the host school for the summer league.
