SOUTHERN PINES – After six days off since its last game, the Richmond Senior High School Lady Raiders basketball team got off to a slow start Thursday on the road at Sandhills Athletic Conference rival Pinecrest High School.
And that slow start would eventually prove to be enough to keep the Lady Raiders from earning their third consecutive victory, as they fell to the Lady Patriots 48-40.
Pinecrest(14-1, 7-0 SAC), which currently leads the SAC standings, got off to an explosive start with a 16-2 run through the game’s first 4:25. That run included an 11-0 start for the Lady Patriots that was ended by Richmond senior forward Lexyonna Ingram when she hit a mid-range jumper off the glass.
Richmond (5-8, 3-5 SAC) struggled early on with maintaining possession, and couldn’t penetrate a tough line of Lady Patriot defenders around the paint. Aside from Ingram’s field goal, only two Keionna Love free throws accounted for the rest of the Lady Raiders’ first quarter points.
Pinecrest was also hot from beyond the arc in the opening quarter, hitting five three-pointers en route to a 21-point quarter. Junior guard Kelly Clark led the way with two triples, netting both in the opening run.
Richmond was plagued with over a dozen turnovers in the first eight minutes, but despite their disappointing first quarter, the Lady Raiders would outscore Pinecrest 36-27 in the closing three quarters.
Head coach Rosalind McDonald’s team managed to score 10 points in the second quarter, as Love drained a three-pointer from the left wing to get things going. But the Lady Raiders’ offense flatlined (save two Saleemah Brown free throws and an Ingram jumper) until sophomore point guard Allexis Swiney hit her first of two triples on the night with under 20 seconds to go until the half.
Pinecrest’s offense also went stagnant, as its shots stopped falling, and only added six points to lead 27-14 heading into halftime.
Out of the break, neither team impressed offensively, as each scored just eight points in the third quarter. But it was Richmond junior guard Dannon Shepard who came off the bench and hit a hot streak and tallied her own 5-0 run late in the frame.
With the Lady Raiders trailing 33-17 with 3:31 left in the third, Shepard hit her first bucket of the night after gathering an offensive rebound in the paint. On the ensuing Richmond possession, Shepard kicked out to the left corner and received an outlet pass, which she pulled up a contested shot and buried a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 11 points.
Shepard, who had her most impressive game of the season, finished second in scoring on the Raiders with eight points. And she wasn’t done.
Entering the fourth quarter down 35-22, the Lady Raiders outscored Pinecrest 18-13 to make the game interesting. Moments later, and trailing by 18 points, freshman guard Jakerra Covington hit back-to-back bank shots from under the rim on assists from Shepard to make the score 42-26 with 4:48 remaining.
The latter of Covington’s buckets started a 9-0 Lady Raiders run over a 1:12 span, that saw Shepard hit her second three-pointer of the night, this time from the top of the arc. Also chipping in were Brown and Ingram, who each had putbacks from inside the paint.
Richmond continued its late-game surge when Swiney hit her final triple with 1:35 left in regulation. On the inbound following Swiney’s basket, Richmond intercepted a pass and Swiney laid it in for two more. With the deficit down to seven points (the lowest since the first quarter), Richmond had life.
But the Lady Patriots played keep away for a majority of the final 1:24 to play, forcing Richmond to foul. Several made free throws by Clark and teammate Keayna McLaughlin sealed the deal for Pinecrest.
Clark finished the night with a game-high 13 points. Swiney led the Lady Raiders with nine points, followed by Shepard (eight), Brown (seven) and Ingram (seven).
Richmond is back in action Friday night as it’ll return home to host Jack Britt High School (7-8, 5-2 SAC). Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
