RAEFORD — It was a two-for-one special for the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team Friday.
Back on the court for the first time in eight days due to weather postponements, the Lady Raiders returned to the win column and picked up a regular-season sweep of a conference opponent.
On the road at Hoke County High School, Richmond defeated the Lady Bucks 57-39. The win ended a two-game slide for the Lady Raiders, which saw both losses come against Mid-South Conference opponents.
A shutdown defense by Richmond forced a lot of turnovers and led to easy transition points all game long. A close first half was broken open thanks to two large scoring runs by the Lady Raiders in the second half, one in each quarter.
Senior Jasiah Gilchrist finished the game with 23 points, netting 12 points in the first half, including nine points in the first quarter.
Fellow senior Olivia Brown netted 11 points, scoring all but three points in the second half. Juniors Madisen Jackson and Iyana Little each contributed eight points.
Part of a six-player scoring effort, senior J’Nasia Neal had four points and junior Kaniah Little had three points.
“This was a good win for us, a good confidence booster,” head coach Taneika Reader said. “After losing our last two conference games and not playing for over a week, this was the kind of game we needed to have to get our focus back.
“I think we played our physical style of defense tonight that teams recognize us for and that resulted in a lot of takeaways and points,” she added. “It was close a couple of times, but when it mattered, we locked in and found a way to score.”
A comfortable lead early in the first quarter for Richmond was cut to just one point by the end of the opening stanza.
Beginning the game on a 6-0 run, the Lady Raiders used a pair of Neal free throws and four points from Gilchrist on a bucket and two shots from the line.
Hoke County scored its first points with 4:21 on the clock. Iyana Little made a shot under the rim and that was followed by a Gilchrist transition bucket to give the Lady Raiders a 10-2 lead, their largest of the quarter.
The Lady Bucks closed the first on an 8-3 run to cut Richmond’s lead to 13-12. Gilchrist accounted for her team’s points with a three-pointer from the top of the arc.
Following a similar script, the second quarter saw the Lady Raiders lead by as many as nine points before Hoke County (8-9, 0-5 MSC) made it a two-possession game before the break.
Breaking a 13-13 tie, Iyana Little powered to the rim from down low. A minute later, with the score tied at 15 points, Brown swished a triple from the right wing with 5:21 on the clock.
That triple started a 9-0 run for Richmond, which was followed by a free throw each from Kaniah Little and Gilchrist, a Jackson spinning jumper and a Gilchrist drive.
Leading 24-15, Richmond allowed a pair of baskets in the final minute to take a 24-20 lead into the locker room.
The Lady Bucks scored two quick baskets to begin the third quarter to knot the score at 24 points, but the Lady Raiders took control of the game with a 16-0 run that spanned more than five minutes.
Jackson started the pivotal stretch with a basket on an inbound play, which Neal followed with a one-handed floater. Brown scooped up a turnover on an inbound attempt and laid it in to make it 30-24.
Transition baskets from Iyana Little and Gilchrist accounted for the next four points to make it a 10-point advantage. The Lady Raiders capped the big run with three more field goals, two from Brown and one by Neal, all of which were the result of a Hoke County turnover.
A free throw by Gilchrist with under 10 seconds to go was the last point for Richmond in the quarter, but a three-pointer from Hoke County at the buzzer made it 41-32.
Keeping the pedal pushed to the hardwood, the Lady Raiders went on a 16-7 run in the closing eight minutes.
Gilchrist had her final six points on a trio of field goals, with two coming in the final two minutes. Jackson continued to showcase her jumper, netting a pair of pull-up shots for her final four points.
With the game well in hand, Brown, Kaniah Little and Iyana Little each added one basket in the fourth.
The Lady Raiders (10-8, 4-2 MSC) will get a shot at redemption Tuesday when they travel to current conference leader Overhills High School (13-5, 5-0 MSC).
Richmond lost the first meeting by five points in overtime. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.
