ROCKINGHAM — A new era of Lady Raider basketball started with a win to begin the season Tuesday.
Under the direction of interim head coach Taneika Reader, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team defeated Panther Creek High School.
Unlike last season’s non-conference meeting on the road, the Lady Raiders were victorious on their home court by a final score of 56-31.
An early back-and-forth battle was broken open by Richmond in the closing minutes of the first half.
Senior point guard Jamyia Lindsey, who finished with a game-high 23 points, added that an aggressive press to start the second half distanced the team for good.
Richmond spread its scoring across seven total players as Reader noted she wanted to get every player on the floor to get the early-season jitters out of the way.
Netting 10 points was junior guard Jasiah Gilchrist, Richmond’s only other double-digit scorer. Sophomore Madisen Jackson scored eight points, followed by juniors Olivia Brown (6 points) and J’Nasia Neal (5 points).
Scoring a bucket apiece to round out the scoring were senior Quanna Bostic and junior Ella Parker.
The Lady Raiders trailed 17-16 after the opening quarter. Four Lady Catamounts gave the visiting team the early lead, while Lindsey netted her first nine points on two field goals, a three-pointer and two free throws.
Brown splashed down a three-ball early on and a pair of buckets from Gilchrist kept Richmond within a possession.
A 17-0 run by the Lady Raiders in the second stanza dismantled Panther Creek and put the home team up 33-17 at halftime.
Jackson, whose role in the paint is expected to grow this season, powered her way to the rim for her first six points, all on field goals. Neal, another player expected to contribute more, joined the scoring with a triple and a pair of free throws.
Gilchrist, Bostic and Lindsey each added a bucket to give the Lady Raiders a comfortable lead at the intermission.
A Lindsey layup started the scoring in the third quarter for Richmond, which used its defense to force turnovers and score easy transition points.
Jackson drove the lane for her final two points with 5:01 remaining in the third, putting the Lady Raiders ahead by 21 points, their largest lead of the game until the closing four minutes of the fourth quarter.
Following a pair of baskets for the Lady Catamounts, drives by Brown and Lindsey resulted in four more points for Richmond. Parker, who used her height to grab an offensive rebound, hit a putback shot with under two minutes to play in the quarter.
Starting the final stanza with a 43-24 lead, Richmond closed the game on a 13-7 run.
Lindsey netted her final eight points of the game in the final eight minutes, scoring the team’s first eight points on a shot under the basket, two free throws, a steal and transition layup and two more shots from the charity stripe.
Gilchrist created a turnover with just over four minutes to play and ran the length of the floor for two more points to make it 53-30.
A free throw from Brown and another steal and transition basket from Gilchrist in the final 2:30 capped the season-opening victory.
Panther Creek (0-1) was led in scoring by Lilah Penigar (8 points), Sasha Boddie (7 points) and Wynne Kinahan (6 points).
The Lady Raiders (1-0) will welcome New Hanover High School for a non-conference game Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: Official statistics were not available at the time of publication. The Richmond Observer will publish photos of Tuesday’s season-opening win soon.
