ROCKINGHAM — It took a little bit more time to get the scoring going than its previous two wins, but the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team notched its third win of the week Saturday.
Extending their winning streak to four straight games overall, the Lady Raiders defeated Hillside High School 55-36.
Richmond trailed early in the non-conference game before building momentum and padding its scoring through the final three quarters.
Having her best scoring performance of the new season was junior forward Madisen Jackson, who splashed down a game-high 17 points. Nine of those points came on three-pointers.
Richmond’s only other double-digit scorer was senior Jasiah Gilchrist, who netted 13 points. She had 12 points in the second half.
Senior Olivia Brown scored nine points in the win, while senior J’Nasia Neal and freshman Amiah Streeter each had four points.
Junior Iyana Little scored three points, junior Kaniah Little and sophomore Amonie McNeil had two points each and sophomore Erin Drumwright scored a point.
To start the game, McNeil scored a layup for her first career varsity points and that was followed by Kaniah Little’s two points to make it a 4-3 lead.
Hillside pulled ahead and Drumwright scored from the line to make it a 6-5 deficit with 2:35 left. Jackson got her big night going with a pair of free throws to regain a 7-6 lead.
A free throw and a field goal made it 10-9, but Neal made an athletic basket under the rim with 5.6 seconds remaining to end the quarter with Richmond down 10-9.
Brown and Streeter each scored from close range in a 40-second span to start the second quarter, which put Richmond ahead 13-10.
A long scoring drought by both teams was broken by Brown with a field goal and a free throw inside of two minutes before the break. Iyana Little added a free throw to extend the lead to 17-11.
In the final 75 seconds of the half, Iyana Little, Gilchrist and Jackson combined for five points. The Lady Raiders entered the locker room up 22-13.
Richmond relied on the shooting of Jackson to maintain its double-digit lead in the third stanza. She scored 10 points in the quarter on two triples and two field goals.
Gilchrist, who had six points in the third, started the second half scoring with a drive through the lane. From the left corner, Jackson hit her first triple, which was followed by a Gilchrist steal and layup to make it 29-17.
Two free throws by Hillside were answered by a putback and a three-pointer from Jackson, as well as a bucket from Neal. With just over four minutes to go in the third, Richmond led 36-19.
Before the end of the quarter, Jackson collected her own rebound for two more points and Gilchrist made a free throw. The Lady Raiders carried a 39-25 lead into the fourth.
Richmond closed the game on a 16-11 scoring stretch, which featured two field goals and three free throws from Gilchrist for her final seven points.
Brown netted a pair of field goals and Jackson made her final triple of the game. Adding two free throws was Streeter.
Now 4-1 on the season, the Lady Raiders will play at non-conference Grace Christian School (8-0) Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: The Richmond junior varsity girls’ basketball team didn’t play Saturday.
