RAEFORD — An undefeated start in Sandhills Athletic Conference action continued for the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team Friday.
In the team’s return to the court for the first time in the new year, the Lady Raiders earned a 71-23 running-clock win on the road at Hoke County High School.
Improving to 3-0 against SAC teams, the Lady Raiders used a season-high 34 points from junior point guard Jamyia Lindsey. She finished with 11 steals, four rebounds and four assists.
Also recording a double-double was sophomore guard Jasiah Gilchrist, who contributed 20 points, 11 steals and three boards.
The name of the game for the Lady Raiders was turnovers, as they registered 31 steals in the win..
Six other players scored and padded the stat sheet, including senior Ryelan Lyerly who had seven points, five rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Senior MaKailah Jackson led the team with six rebounds and added five steals and three points.
Sophomore J’Nasia Neal had five rebounds and junior Rena Drake grabbed five boards to go with her two points, two steals and one assist.
Other contributors were senior C’Niya Hinson (four rebounds, one point), freshman Madisen Jackson (two points, one steal and one rebound) and freshman Kaylan Parsons (three rebounds, two points).
The first quarter belonged to Richmond, which took a 6-0 lead and forced a Hoke County timeout just 1:03 into the game. A layup by Gilchrist and four points by Lindsey accounted for the scoring.
Six Lady Raiders scored in the first, as a triple by Lyerly and a shot underneath from Madisen Jackson pushed the lead to 13-2.
Later in the quarter Lindsey went on an 11-0 run by herself to cap her 17-point first quarter. She knocked down back-to-back three-pointers, added a transition bucket off a steal, scored another drive and sank a free throw.
Extending the lead to 24-4, Richmond closed the final 2:58 by outscoring Hoke County 4-3. Free throws from MaKailah Jackson and Gilchrist sandwiched a putback by Drake.
Carrying a 28-7 lead into the second quarter, Richmond outdid the Lady Bucks 13-7. Much like in the first quarter, the Lady Raiders capitalized on turnovers and fastbreak points.
Lindsey started the scoring with another of her five three-pointers, followed by a bucket from Gilchrist and a Hinson free throw.
Another three-ball from Lindsey, who had 25 points at the break, two points by Gilchrist and a Lindsey layup on a dish from Lyerly gave Richmond a 41-14 lead at halftime.
Gilchrist, who scored 11 points in the third stanza, started the running clock when she hit a three-pointer from the right corner with 3:11 on the board. That made it 59-19.
Helping get the team to that position were five previous points from Gilchrist, four points each by Lindsey and Lyerly and a spinning shot along the baseline by MaKailah Jackson.
Five combined points from Gilchrist and Lindsey in the closing two minutes put Richmond ahead 54-19.
A quickly-moving fourth quarter yielded Lindsey’s final triple, a drive from Gilchrist and a putback courtesy of Parsons.
Hoke County (2-11, 0-3 SAC) was led in scoring by Dashinedria Riggins (eight points) and Karmen Campbell (four points).
The Lady Raiders (8-4, 3-0 SAC) will host non-conference South Mecklenburg (8-5) Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Friday’s win soon.
