ROCKINGHAM — Playing three games in less than 24 hours, the Richmond Senior High School junior varsity boys’ basketball team picked up one win over the weekend.
The JV Raiders and head coach Travis Byers hosted Mid-South Conference opponent Hoke County High School Friday and played a two-game tournament at Cheraw High School Saturday.
Richmond lost to the JV Bucks Friday, opened Saturday’s games with a win over Marlboro County High School and fell in the championship game to Hartsville High School.
JV Raiders swept by JV Bucks
In the second of the two regular-season meetings between Richmond and Hoke County, the JV Raiders suffered a 65-51 loss.
Close on the scoreboard through the first three quarters, Hoke County pulled away with a 21-11 run in the fourth quarter.
Richmond trailed 19-14 after the first quarter and cut that deficit to 28-25 at halftime. Outscoring Hoke County again in the third quarter 15-13, the JV Raiders started the fourth down just one point, 41-40.
Jimmy Tillman scored a team-high 20 points in the game, netting 14 points in the first half. Eight other players scored in the loss, with William Bryant and Jazari Dawkins both finishing with eight points.
Low-scoring win for JV Raiders over Marlboro County
The JV Raiders began their tournament day Saturday with a slugfest against Marlboro County High School.
A low-scoring affair ended in a 33-20 win for Richmond.
The game got off to a fast start for the JV Raiders thanks to a 14-0 run. But their offense went quiet in the second quarter as the JV Bulldogs went on a 10-0 stretch to cut Richmond’s lead to 14-10 at the half.
Richmond opened the gap a little bit more with a 14-6 run in the third to take a 28-16 lead. The fourth quarter saw both teams stay in single digits, with Richmond holding on thanks to a 5-4 run.
Leading the team in scoring with nine points apiece were Tillman and LaTavian Watkins. Bryant had five points, Xander Chavis and Zymere Gillespie each had four points and Dawkins scored two points.
JV Raiders edged by two points against Hartsville
After defeating Marlboro County, Richmond advanced to the championship game of Saturday’s tournament and faced Hartsville High School.
In what proved to be another low-scoring matchup, the JV Raiders came up one possession short in a 36-34 loss to the JV Red Foxes.
Both teams battled out to a 7-7 tie at the end of the first quarter. Hartsville gained a one-point lead at half, 15-14, after outscoring Richmond 8-7 in the second quarter.
Again in the third quarter, the JV Raiders and Hartsville traded points equally, this time with both teams scoring 12 points.
Down 27-26 to start the final stanza, Richmond stayed close but was outscored 9-8 for the game’s final score.
Leading scorers for Richmond were Tillman (10 points), Bryant (6 points), Chavis (5 points) and Gillespie (5 points).
The JV Raiders (4-10, 2-4 MSC) return to conference action Tuesday and host Overhills High School at 6 p.m.
