SANFORD — The mid-season groove the Richmond Raider basketball team has been in the past month continued Monday with another victory.
Back on the hardwood for the first time in 10 days, the Raiders and head coach Donald Pettigrew notched their eighth consecutive win.
Playing in the first of three Sandhills Athletic Conference games this week, the Raiders defeated Lee County High School 76-60, completing the trifecta in Sanford.
Helping boost the team’s scoring was junior shooting guard Jayden Hamilton, who finished with a single-game career-high 28 points. He contributed most in the middle quarters, combining for 22 points between the second and third stanzas.
Hamilton was one of nine players for Richmond to score in the game, as well as one of four double-digit scorers. The other three were junior Amer Morrison (11 points), senior Keyonta Davis (10 points) and senior Ahaiver McDonald (10 points).
Contributing to the victory were senior Davion Ingram (5 points) and freshman Donovan Jones (5 points), sophomore Chance Crowder (3 points), senior Zyonn Mason (2 points) and junior Zamarion Robinson (2 points).
Richmond and Lee County (7-9, 2-4 SAC) traded baskets nearly evenly in the first quarter, which ended in a 17-14 lead for the Raiders. A goaltending call against the Yellow Jackets recorded Hamilton’s and the game’s first two points.
McDonald scored his first two of six points in the opening quarter on a transition basket, and Davis splashed down a three-pointer from the right wing to break an early tie and make it a 7-4 lead.
After Lee County took a 9-7 advantage, Richmond went on a 10-2 run in the final 2:48 of the quarter to retake the lead. Davis started the stretch with a free throw, which was followed by a Crowder triple along the right side and another bucket from McDonald.
An athletic tip from McDonald on an offensive rebound secured his final two points early on and Hamilton hit a deep two inside the final 15 seconds.
Five Raiders scored in the second quarter, led by Hamilton’s 10 points, which gave him 14 points at the break. A couple of scoring runs in favor of the Raiders put them up 39-28 at halftime, the 11-point lead their largest of the half.
The Yellow Jackets took an 18-17 lead early in the second, but a move through the paint from Hamilton flipped the script for good. Jones scored his first two points after making a steal near half court and laying in an easy bucket.
Morrison scored his first two points of the game to maintain a five-point lead. Hamilton went on a 5-0 run by himself in a 30-second span, hitting the first of his team-high four three-pointers from the left wing before adding a transition basket.
Trailing 28-20 Lee County called a timeout, but that was answered by Davis out of the break with a two-handed jam from under the hoop. A transition basket by Morrison, the last of his four points in the first half, gained an 11-point lead for Richmond.
In the closing 35 seconds of the second, Davis hit a shot off the glass, McDonald muscled his way through the paint for one basket and Hamilton hit a three-pointer from well beyond half court at the buzzer to send the Raiders into the locker room with a 39-28 lead.
A strong start on both ends of the floor for Richmond helped the Raiders create some space on the scoreboard in the early part of the third quarter. The difference maker was a 16-2 scoring spurt over a 3:43 span.
Hamilton’s best quarter of the game was the third, which resulted in a dozen points. He had Richmond’s first five points thanks to a close-range basket and a three-pointer along the left wing.
McDonald capped his scoring with a drive and Davis followed with a bucket off an inbound pass to make it 48-36.
With 4:45 left in the third, Hamilton connected on a baseline drive that ignited the scoring run that saw four players score. Morrison and Hamilton kept it going with a transition basket each, and Ingram scored the first of his five points in the third quarter after receiving the inbound pass.
Favoring the left side of the court, Hamilton put Richmond ahead 59-37 with his final three-ball of the game.
Finishing out the 14-point swing, Ingram was true on a three-pointer from the left corner and Robinson sank a deep field goa with 1:02 on the clock. Giving the Raiders their largest lead to that point in the game, Jones made a three-pointer at the top of the arc with 10 seconds left to build the lead to 67-42.
Starting the final stanza with a 25-point cushion, Pettigrew subbed most of the starters in for the first four minutes of the quarter. Mason was the only player to score in the span, which saw Lee County cut its deficit to 69-52.
With most of the starters back in for the final four minutes, Hamilton bodied his way up and over a defender for the final basket of his career night.
In the closing 90 seconds, Richmond was able to slow down Lee County’s offense and Morrison recorded the team’s final five points on two field goals and a free throw.
The Yellow Jackets were led in scoring by Jayden Hill (18 points) and Nick Farrow (10 points).
Returning to their home floor Tuesday, the Raiders (9-7, 4-2 SAC) will try to even the season series with Pinecrest High School (12-4, 5-1 SAC). The conference game will start at 7:30 p.m.
