HIGH POINT, N.C. — Richmond Senior High School’s girls’ basketball team hit the floor for the first time in nine days and the rust showed in the opening round of the Sheetz Holiday Christmas Classic.
Playing against North Davidson High School, with Southwest Guilford High School hosting the tournament, the Lady Raiders opened with a 67-42 loss to the Lady Black Knights (2A, Central Carolina Conference).
The 25-point loss served as head coach Teddy Moseley’s team’s biggest deficit this season, and came on the heels of the Lady Raiders biggest win (of 47 points) last time out against Cheraw High School.
In the first quarter, North Davidson (9-1) would use double figures from Courtney McMillan (11 points) and Emily Hege (10 points) to jump out to a 26-14 lead. For Richmond, senior point guard Jayla McDougald scored a team-high four points, and would finish as the Lady Raiders’ leading scorer with 12 points.
Ten of Richmond’s 11 players who dressed on Thursday would find the basket, although the slow start would put the Lady Raiders behind from the opening eight minutes. Seniors Jardai Tillman and Bree Wall finished with 6 points each, followed by a four-point effort from fellow senior Keionna Love.
The Lady Raiders settled in during the second quarter, maintaining their offense while picking up their defense. Richmond held North Davidson to 13 points in the second frame, and matched them to take a 39-27 deficit into the break.
McDougald and Wall both scored four points in the second quarter, while freshman guard Kyla Sampson connected for her lone three points of the game on a triple.
Out of the locker room, the Lady Black Knights mirrored their early scoring efforts in the third quarter, outshooting Richmond 19-7. Hege went off 16 of her game-high 31 points, while McMillan added three free throws to finish her 20-point night.
The Lady Raiders struggled offensively the entire second half, managing to add just eight more points in the final quarter. McDougald and Tillman led Richmond with four points apiece in the second half.
“It was an all-around poor effort on both sides of the floor,” Moseley said of the loss.
The Lady Raiders (5-3) will continue play in the Sheetz Holiday Christmas Classing, a three-day event, on Friday against Wesleyan Christian Academy (3-8). Moseley said the game is set for 4:30 p.m.
