PEMBROKE — For much of the Richmond Senior High School varsity girls basketball team’s Sandhills Athletic Conference opener Tuesday at Purnell Swett High School, the Lady Raiders were on the losing end of the scoreboard.
But all of that changed at the end of the third quarter and throughout the entire fourth quarter, as the Lady Raiders battled back and outscored the Lady Rams 19-12 in the final 8:43 of play to secure their third win of the season. Richmond (3-2, 1-0 SAC) rolled out of Pembroke with a 49-45 victory.
First-year head coach Teddy Moseley said he was going to change the team’s starting five after losing by 20 points in Friday’s non-conference contest against Ronald Reagan High School. He held true to his word, as he sent Jardai Tillman, Jasmine Ewing, Jayana Nicholson, Jessie Matheson and Bree Wall on the court to begin the game.
“I thought the (new) starting five came in and did what they were supposed to do tonight,” Moseley commented after the game. “They didn’t turn the ball over as much and didn’t allow as many points off those turnovers. I thought it sent a message to the team that we have to play no matter what — if we’re down 20 or 50 points — we have to play to the end of the game.”
It was a slow start for both teams, as the first points of the game came via a Tillman putback on an offensive rebound with 4:19 to go in the first quarter. She would score the only other bucket in the opening frame for Richmond, as Purnell Swett (2-3, 0-1 SAC) hurried out to a 10-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.
A 6-0 run to start the second frame saw baskets from sophomore Jayla McDougald, junior Allexis Swiney and senior Taliah Wall, which tied the game at 10 points. Both teams would trade buckets until the end of the half, as a free throw by Alona Locklear gave the Lady Rams a 22-20 lead heading into the halftime break.
Purnell Swett would manage to sustain a small lead for most of the third quarter, going up by five points, 33-28, with 1:20 to go in the frame. That’s when Swiney and her younger sister, freshman Allyiah Swiney, took over to make the difference.
Following a layup by Ewing under the basket with a minute remaining, Allexis Swiney went to the line and hit three of her four attempts. On Richmond’s final possession of the half, Allyiah Swiney netted a putback shot as time expired, ending the 7-0 run that put the Lady Raiders up 35-33 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
“The thing about Allexis is, as she goes, we go as a team,” Moseley commented on his leading scorer, who finished with a season-high 16 points. “She needs to continue to be more aggressive, and that’s what I’ve been preaching to her all season long. When she’s looking to score, it frees up everything else.
“Allyiah can do things physically,” he added on the younger Swiney. “She’s got the speed to play this game, which is fast-paced, but mentally she needs to slow things down. Now she’s having to think more compared to middle school basketball, and she’s learning that process as she goes.”
Purnell Swett wouldn’t go away quietly, as the Lady Rams managed to tie the game two more times before the final buzzer. A pair of made free throws by Allexis Swiney at the 5:59 mark gave Richmond the final lead it would need to secure the victory.
Down the home stretch, Allexis Swiney hit six free throws, while junior teammate Layne Maultsby added another in crunch time. McDougald, who finished with eight points on the night, also hit a floater under the hoop in the final minute of play. Ewing would drill one of her two free throw attempts in the game’s final sequence to ice the cake for the Lady Raiders.
“It’s a good thing that we were able to come back and win the game,” Moseley said. “It’s a bad thing that we trailed by that much when we shouldn’t have. We made a lot of mental mistakes and didn’t box out. The one thing I’m working on with the girls is not to ball watch on defense. Purnell Swett did a great job of exploiting our backside because we were mesmerized watching the ball.
“We were 17-for-31 on free throws tonight,” he closed. “We’re doing a better job of cutting down on missed free throws and we only had 22 turnovers tonight. That’s still a little too many for me, but we took better care of the ball in the second half. We’re still looking to put together a complete game.”
Richmond will be back in action Thursday, Dec. 13, at home, in a make-up game from Monday’s postponement against Forest Hills High School. Tip off is at 5:30 p.m.
