ROCKINGHAM — For the first time in 11 seasons, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team is off to a 3-0 start to begin its schedule.
Returning to the floor for the first time in 12 days, and fresh off a week of practice during the Thanksgiving holiday, the Lady Raiders defeated Southern Lee High School 41-26 in Tuesday’s non-conference meeting.
Second-year head coach Teddy Moseley noted “a win is a win,” but added that his team “didn’t play its best” game of basketball. Junior forward Jakerra Covington carried the weight of Richmond’s scoring, netting a season-high 18 points, and was the only Lady Raider to score double digits.
“The good thing is we’re 3-0, but the bad thing is we didn’t play very well tonight,” Moseley said. “We got by on sheer talent alone. There were a lot of mistakes defensively, lots of mistakes on the offensive end.
“But I attribute those mistakes to being off last week,” he added. “Even though we practiced every day, it’s not the same as playing in games. A lot of our mistakes are inexcusable like too many unforced turnovers and missing open shots.”
Covington, who entered the game with just 16 points through her first two games, used her physical play in the post to put up nearly half the Lady Raiders’ points. She had 11 points in the first half before adding seven more in the final two quarters.
It’s the second time this season Covington has netted double figures, the other being 12 points on the road at Anson High School before the break.
“Jakerra was Jakerra tonight,” Moseley said of Covington. “She’s our Swiss army knife because she does a lot for us. She forced a lot of turnovers on the press out front on the ball.”
The Lady Raiders opened the game on an 8-0 run against the Lady Cavaliers (1-3), seeing five points from Covington. Senior guard Keionna Love added a free throw and junior point guard Jayla McDougald hit a floater in transition.
A triple from Love, Richmond’s only shot from beyond the arc, and a breakaway layup from McDougald put the Lady Raiders up 13-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Southern Lee’s Janiya McDougald scored a bucket in the final 30 seconds of the first quarter, but that would start a scoring drought that lasted the entire second stanza and nearly three minutes into the third.
Richmond outscored Southern Lee 12-0 in the second eight-minute period, seeing Covington go on a 6-0 run of her own. Jayla McDougald, Love and sophomore forward Jamiya Ratliff each added a bucket. At the half, the home team led 25-6.
Out of the break, Covington hit back-to-back shots near the basket to give the Lady Raiders a 29-6 lead. That’s when Janiya McDougald laid a shot up and in from under the hoop to snap her team’s nearly 12-minute scoreless streak.
While the Lady Raiders’ offense struggled to find the basket in the second half, scoring just 16 total points, their defense made up for the lapse in points. Running a press, Moseley was pleased with the efforts of several players to force turnovers and limit Southern Lee’s scoring chances.
To help put the game away in the fourth quarter, Covington added her final three points. Also finding the basket for the first time in the game were senior Bree Wall and junior Davionna Campbell, both of whom laid in shots in transition.
“We need to get better at the free throw line,” Moseley noted of the 4-for-11 mark of Tuesday’s game. “But Bree and Keionna played tremendous defense tonight.
“I told the girls after the game we can’t play on Thursday the way we played tonight, or we’re going to lose,” he closed. “We’re excited to start conference play, and Purnell Swett is going to be a little more talented on the floor.”
Jayla McDougald scored nine points in the win, followed by eight more points from Love. Campbell, Ratliff and Wall all had two points.
Myah Ainsworth led the Lady Cavs with 11 points, with 10 points coming from Janiya McDougald.
The Lady Raiders (3-0) will look to stay undefeated when they open Sandhills Athletic Conference play at home against Purnell Swett High School (2-1) on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
Note: The Richmond junior varsity team did not play on Tuesday. The JV Lady Raiders will play at Purnell Swett on Thursday.
