FAYETTEVILLE — When the shots mattered Friday, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team made them count, albeit late in the game.
Staying undefeated to start Mid-South Conference play, the Lady Raiders pulled away late to defeat Jack Britt High School 51-43.
In what proved to be an off night on both sides of the ball for Richmond, the Lady Raiders managed to lock in during the fourth quarter to break a third-quarter tie.
With the score knotted at 36 points to start the fourth, Richmond closed the game on a 15-7 run.
Senior Jasiah Gilchrist brought her scoring to life late in the game, scoring the final eight of her team-high 17 points in the final eight minutes. She had all but two of her points in the second half.
Junior Madisen Jackson carried the weight early on, scoring eight points in the first half and finishing with 13 points. She hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 5:40 left in the game to put the Lady Raiders ahead for good.
Adding nine points, including five shots from the line, was junior Kaniah Little. Richmond’s other scorers were senior Olivia Brown (7 points), senior J’Nasia Neal (3 points) and junior Iyana Little (2 points).
Head coach Taneika Reader pointed to too many turnovers and missed opportunities early in the game as the main reasons for the slow start. She was pleased, however, with the way the team found a way to grind it out late.
A sloppy first half by both teams saw almost as many turnovers and missed free throws as points scored.
Buzzer-beating shots at the end of each quarter resulted in a lead for either team. The Lady Raiders led 13-10 after the first before Jack Britt took a 23-21 lead into the intermission.
Brown hit a three-pointer from the right wing in the game’s opening minute to give Richmond an early lead. A five-point run by Jack Britt flipped the advantage.
Jackson scored the first of her eight points in the first half on a free throw, which was followed by Gilchrist scoring on her own rebound and Neal making a shot under the hoop to tie it 8-8 with 3:02 to play.
In the final 90 seconds, Jackson went on a 4-0 run by herself, starting with another free throw. From the top of the arc at the buzzer, Jackson drained a triple to give the Lady Raiders a three-point lead.
The Lady Buccaneers outscored Richmond 13-8 in the second quarter. Kaniah Little had a team-high four points in the second, starting with a free throw to give Richmond a 14-10 lead, its largest of the half.
Jackson later made a free throw and Iyana Little knocked in a pair of shots from the charity stripe to break a tie and put the Lady Raiders ahead 18-15.
Richmond’s final three points of the half came in the final 40.5 seconds on a free throw and a transition basket by Kaniah Little. Jack Britt hit a jumper at the buzzer to lead 23-21.
The entire third quarter was a back-and-forth trading of points by both teams. Richmond trailed by as many as four points two different times and the teams were tied four times.
Three free throws early in the quarter, one from Neal and two from Brown, tied the game 24-24. Kaniah Little made another free throw and Gilchrist scored off a steal near the midway point to cut Richmond’s deficit to 28-27.
An old-fashioned three-point play from Gilchrist later knotted the score at 30 points inside of four minutes to play.
Helping keep the game close were two points each from Jackson, Kaniah Little and Gilchrist in the last 1:34 of the period to carry a 36-36 tie into the fourth.
An early basket by Gilchrist to start the fourth was answered by a three-pointer from Jack Britt to make it a 39-38 deficit. In transition, however, Jackson was dialed in and made her second three-pointer of the game along the right wing to secure the last lead change of the game.
That three-ball started an 8-0 run by Richmond. Adding two points each over the span of 2:20 seconds were Kaniah Little, Gilchrist and Brown to extend the lead to 47-39.
Gilchrist capped her efficient quarter with a transition layup and two free throws to put the game out of reach. The Lady Raiders slowed the tempo for the last 2:20 and only allowed Jack Britt (5-9, 0-1 MSC) to score one more field goal before time expired.
Another week with two conference games awaits the Lady Raiders (8-6, 2-0 MSC), who will host Hoke County and Overhills high schools next Tuesday and Friday. Both games will start at 6 p.m.
