ROCKINGHAM — Closing its season out at home Friday, the Richmond junior varsity boys’ basketball team ended a two-game slide with a victory over its rival.
Welcoming in Scotland High School, the Raiders used three double digit scorers and had eight of its nine players find the basket in a 63-47 win.
Head coach Kenta Hutchinson and the JV Raiders completed the shortened season with a 7-2 overall record and averaged 61.1 points per game. Defensively, Richmond allowed opponents to average just 46.2 points per game.
The team’s seven victories were won by an average of 15.7 points, with the Raiders’ highest score being 80 points against Jack Britt High School on Jan. 12.
That win was also Richmond’s biggest margin, outpacing the Buccaneers by 41 points. Sophomore Zion Baldwin had his best game of the season that night, scoring a career high 26 points and grabbing 18 rebounds.
In Friday’s win, sophomore Emoni McBride led the team with 14 points, the second straight game he led the Raiders’ offense. Baldwin and freshman point guard Javian Drake tallied 12 points against the Scots.
“I’m happy to finish the season in good standings,” Hutchinson said. “This last week was rough for us, but we finished out with the W. I’m proud of our guys because they’ve worked hard all season.
“I really commend them because it’s been rough with everything going on in the world right now,” he added. “I told them this year was just a taste of what it’s like to play at the high school level. We finished with nine games and we normally play around 23 games.”
Drake had a breakout season as the Raiders’ floor general, leading the team with 14.4 points per game. He netted a career high 27 points in Richmond’s second win over Purnell Swett High School and had double digits in seven of the nine games.
His final two points against Lumberton on Jan. 19 closed an 18-point game for him, but more importantly, gave the Raiders a 73-71 win with 0.4 seconds left.
Against the Scots, the two teams battled out to a 15-14 score at the end of the first quarter with Richmond holding a one-point advantage.
The Raiders would climb ahead by as many as 12 points in the second quarter, 32-20, but the Scots closed the final 20 seconds on a 5-0 run. At the break, Richmond’s lead was seven points, 32-25.
In the first half, McBride had 10 points and Drake netted his first nine. Sophomore Zay Hubbard, who totaled eight in the game, scored five in the first half. Baldwin had three points, Z’yon Baldwin added three points and freshman Jamison Jones scored a free throw.
Out of the intermission, the third started with three straight triples from Drake, Hubbard and Zion Baldwin. That put the Raiders ahead 41-25 and forced Scotland to take an early timeout. That run proved to be a big difference maker, as both teams traded points down the stretch.
Jones scored six of his seven points in the second half and was key in keeping the Raiders’ bench fired up.
Freshmen Toby McInnis and Tristan Wall, who each scored two points, went coast-to-coast on fastbreak points in the second half. Fellow freshman Davin McNair and Z’yon Baldwin ended the game with three points.
With the season in the books, Hutchinson said there’s no time for the team to let go of everything it has built this winter.
“I stressed to the guys after the game that it’s the offseason now, and we have to continue to work hard on our game and progress and improve each day,” he explained. “Basketball season doesn’t start when the season starts, that’s our motto around here.
“The guys also need to continue to excel in the classroom and be great young men in society,” he closed. “We have a lot of freshmen with a lot of upside, so I’m looking forward to working with these guys over the next few years.”
Deon Cranford and Kyle Pillar contributed to this article.
