ROCKINGHAM — The old sports adage that a good defense creates a good offense worked in favor of the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team Friday.
Notching their fifth consecutive win, the Lady Raiders remained undefeated in Sandhills Athletic Conference play.
Thanks to a suffocating defense from the opening possession, Richmond used its takeaways to run away with a 67-23 win over visiting Hoke County High School.
The Lady Raiders started the running clock with 5:10 to play in the fourth quarter. It was their second running clock victory of the season against a conference opponent.
Junior Jasiah Gilchrist was a big part of the defensive effort, but she also produced on offense, scoring a single-game career high 29 points.
Two others reached double-digits for Richmond — senior point guard Jamyia Lindsey (18 points) and junior shooting guard Olivia Brown (11 points). Brown netted a team-high three three-pointers, while Gilchrist and Lindsey both had two.
Sophomore Madisen Jackson scored five points in the win and senior Quanna Bostic and junior J’Nasia Neal each had a basket.
Lindsey scored Richmond’s first six points, part of a 12-0 run to start the game. A pair of steals by Gilchrist on Hoke County’s first two possessions led to outlet passes and easy buckets for Lindsey, who also connected on a pair of free throws.
Brown kept her outside shooting hot, sinking one of her two first-quarter three pointers from the left side to make it 9-0.
Gilchrist capped the opening stretch of scoring with a steal and transition basket, followed by a successful and-one opportunity.
Hoke County got on the board at the 4:54 mark of the first, two of its eight early points. Gilchrist responded with two more transition buckets to extend the Lady Raiders’ lead to 14 points.
Three more of Gilchrist’s team-high 12 points in the first quarter were the result of a pull-up triple from the right wing. In the closing seconds, Brown found twine on a three-ball from the opposite side and Gilchrist made another steal for a layup to give Richmond a 24-8 lead.
The Lady Raiders kept the pressure up on both sides of the court in the second quarter, not relenting on its defense and outscored Hoke County 15-4.
A pair of steals led to quick buckets from Lindsey and Gilchrist to start the quarter. A couple of possessions later, Lindsey was dialed in for a deep three-pointer at the top of the arc and Gilchrist made another transition basket after she swiped the ball near halfcourt.
Leading 33-12, Lindsey connected on her final three-ball from the left wing. Richmond added three free throws in the closing minute, one from Jackson and two from Neal, to enter the break up 39-12.
That 27-point lead grew to as many as 37 points in the third quarter, which resulted in a 17-7 run by Richmond.
The first six points were all scored by the Lady Raiders, which featured two Gilchrist free throws, a jumper from Lindsey and a shot underneath from Jackson on a cut through the lane.
Two baskets from Hoke County (1-8, 0-3 SAC) were wrapped around a triple from Gilchrist. In the closing three minutes of the third, Jackson, Brown, Gilchrist and Bostic each had a field goal to extend Richmond’s lead to 56-19.
The Lady Raiders’ first two baskets of the fourth were both scored by Gilchrist, the second of which started a running clock after she made a steal in the defensive end and went coast-to-coast for a layup.
A final triple from Brown and a Lindsey transition bucket set up Richmond’s final points when Gilchrist scored under the rim with 2:44 to play. Slowing down the offense, the 30th point was elusive for Gilchrist as Richond ran out the clock.
Hoke County was led in scoring by Shelby Burris and Ayana Jones, both of whom had seven points.
The Lady Raiders (7-2, 3-0 SAC) have off until after Christmas when they play non-conference Charlotte Country Day School on Dec. 26. That game will be played at Northwest Guilford High School.
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Friday’s win soon.