ROCKINGHAM — A healthy dose of scoring and a big run in the second quarter boosted the Lady Raider basketball through its second round playoff game Friday.
Making it to the third round for the first time in head coach Teddy Moseley’s six seasons, the No. 5 Lady Raiders defeated No. 21 Leesville Road 69-57 in the 4A East bracket.
Each team controlled the tempo in separate halves, but Richmond’s first half proved to be bigger than the Lady Pride’s second half comeback attempt.
The Lady Raiders used a 25-3 run during the second quarter to lead by as many as 30 points in the first half. Leesville Road answered with a 27-9 stretch in the third quarter.
Down the stretch, Richmond outscored Leesville Road 17-11 in the fourth quarter to hold on for the win.
Three players reached double figures for Richmond — junior Jamyia Lindsey (27 points), senior Ryelan Lyerly (14 points) and sophomore Jasiah Gilchrist (12 points).
Junior Rena Drake and freshman Madisen Jackson each scored 8 points to round out the effort.
Drake led the team with eight rebounds and Lindsey had four boards, four assists and a team-high six steals. Gilchrist had six assists and four takeaways.
Early runs by both teams saw the lead change in the first quarter. A 5-0 run by Richmond started the game courtesy of a Gilchrist transition basket and an old-fashioned three-point play from Lindsey.
Three straight buckets by the Lady Pride gave the visitors a 6-5 lead. Answering with the first of her four three-pointers in the win, Lyerly splashed down a triple from the left wing with 3:38 left to give Richmond the lead for good.
A Lindsey free throw and two field goals by Gilchrist in the paint forced the Lady Pride to call a timeout down 13-7.
Out of the break, Lindsey hit a three-ball at the top of the arc to give the Lady Raiders their largest lead of the first quarter, 16-7.
Leesville Road closed on a 4-0 run to make it 16-11 heading into the second.
Helping cement the win in the second stanza, Richmond went on its 25-3 run and didn’t let Leesville Road score until there was 20 seconds left before half.
A floater from Lindsey opened the scoring, followed by a Lyerly trey from the right wing. Lindsey scored the next five points on a jumper and a triple.
Two free throws from Lyerly extended Richmond’s lead and after Lindsey hit a spinning jumper in the paint, Leesville Road called a timeout down 30-11.
Drake had four of Richmond’s next seven points, sandwiching a putback and a jumper around a Lyerly three-ball. A transition basket from Gilchrist and a shot under the hoop from Jackson made it a 30-point lead.
With 20 seconds left in the half, Molly Zuburg connected on a three-pointer for Leesville Road’s only points of the second quarter. At the break, Richmond led 41-14.
But the third quarter belonged to the Lady Pride, who cut their deficit to as close to eight points, 46-38. Kaiel Lawless scored all 15 of her points in the third, dropping five three-pointers for Leesville Road.
Moseley called a pair of timeouts during the quarter to regroup the team.
Lindsey had five points in the third, scoring three free throws and a bucket. Jackson added two close-range field goals and Gilchrist made another transition basket.
Leading 52-41 to start the final stanza, the Lady Raiders slowed down their pace to drain the clock and still found the basket to widen their lead.
Drake scored in the paint for the first basket of the frame, which was followed by a Jackson drive and a Lindsey shot off an inbound pass. Two free throws by Drake made it a 60-44 lead.
Lindsey and Gilchrist combined for four points on a pair of drives over the next two minutes on the clock, and Lyerly helped ice the win with her final triple from in front of the student section.
Collecting one of her eight steals, Lindsey capped the team’s scoring with an easy layup with 1:42 on the clock.
Leesville Road (17-7) was led in scoring by Finley Lewis (16 points), Lawless (15 points) and Zuburg (12 points).
Up next for the No. 5 Lady Raiders (24-4) will be another home playoff game against No. 20 Southeast Raleigh High School (20-8).
The third round of the NCHSAA 4A East playoffs will be played Tuesday at a time yet to be decided at the time of publication.
The Lady Bulldogs upset conference opponent No. 4 Willow Spring High School 41-40 at the buzzer in the second round Friday.
The Richmond Observer will publish a gallery of Friday’s second-round playoff win soon.
Sports editor’s note: Unofficial statistics provided by assistant coach Taneika Reader.
