ROCKINGHAM — Richmond Senior High School head boys’ junior varsity coach Kenta Hutchinson called sophomore Mehki Harrington’s energy “unmatched” during Monday’s game.
Harrington set the tone for the Raiders on both sides of the ball, scoring a season and game-high 22 points in an 81-35 win over visiting Cheraw High School. With the win, Richmond rebounded from its first loss on Friday against Pinecrest High School and improved to 6-1 on the campaign.
Besides allowing the Braves to score the first basket of the game, the Raiders held the lead for 30 of the 32 minutes played. A drive by sophomore Javares Stanback with 6:30 remaining in the fourth quarter put the Raiders up 40 points and started the running clock.
Stanback finished as the second leading scorer for Richmond, netting a season-high 13 points in his second game of the year. Also reaching double figures were freshman Dakota Chavis and sophomore Xavier Collazo, both of whom contributed 10 points.
Just shy of double digits were sophomores Ke’Sean Ingram and Deshon Watson, who recorded nine points each.
“This was a good win coming off the loss (against Pinecrest),” Hutchinson said following the game. “Defensively we were locked in tonight, which was good after not playing good defense last week.
“I’m proud of the way we responded and everyone played well tonight,” he added. “Even our two football guys, Javares and Ke’Sean, had big nights and are getting into the rotation. This was a confidence booster for us”
Of Harrington’s performance, Hutchinson added, “I loved his energy tonight. He gets after it on every play offensively and defensively. He can shoot the ball and his energy on defense is unmatched. Mehki will give 110 percent on every play.”
To start the game, Harrington netted six points in the first quarter to help the Raiders out to a 15-10 lead after the opening eight minutes. Chavis added four points, while Collazo hit a three and sophomore Robert Bethea added his two points of the game.
Richmond broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring the Braves 30-10. Seven Raiders would find the basket in the frame, with Harrington going on a nine-point scoring streak of his own to put Richmond ahead 39-19 with 1:26 to play before the half.
Collazo netted five points in the second, while Watson and Ingram chipped in four points apiece. Ingram brought a big-body presence beneath the hoop and notched his first two baskets on back-to-back possessions late in the quarter. Sophomore Micah Jackson hit a layup just before the buzzer to give Richmond a 45-20 lead.
With the game out of reach, Harrington led all scorers with five more points in the third, hitting a triple and a layup in the opening moments of the second half. Chavis finished his scoring with four more points and Ingram matched it with a pair of shots under the rim.
Sophomore Donovan Gadson connected on a three-pointer, his lone points of the game, and Stanback heated up with a bucket just before the end of the quarter.
A 15-6 run in the final stanza by the Raiders saw Stanback account for eight of them. He began with a hard drive in the paint and completed the and-one opportunity, before adding a triple from the right corner and another bucket.
Harrington, Collazo and Watson all had two points, while Ingram made a free throw to complete the season sweep of the Braves.
The JV Raiders (6-1) will now prepare for the Holiday in the Pines Tournament, which is hosted by Pinecrest. Richmond will open with Holly Springs High School on Thursday, and Hutchinson said he’d like to see a rematch against the Patriots “if that’s the way things go.”
