PEMBROKE — Opening Sandhills Athletic Conference play Tuesday at Purnell Swett High School, the Richmond Raider varsity boys basketball team posted a season-high in points, but fell just short of the host Rams 78-74.
In what turned out to be a second-half shootout between the Raiders (1-3, 0-1) and the Rams (4-1, 1-0), both teams scored 50 or more points in the final 16 minutes of play. The two squads combined for only 51 points in the first half, as Purnell Swett led from the opening basket, and held a 27-24 lead at the halftime break.
Despite the barrage of scoring in the second half, Richmond head coach Donald Pettigrew said it was turnovers and a late start that haunted the Raiders down the stretch.
“We scored 33 points in the fourth quarter tonight, but we started off too slow,” Pettigrew explained after the loss. “We started working the ball inside out in the second half, but we have to have that (same play) the first half. That was a nice little run we had, but I told the guys they have to start doing that more throughout the game.
“The other thing is we turned the ball over too much tonight,” he added. “Right now, we’re averaging 20 turnovers a game. We’re not taking care of the ball and are making careless mistakes in the wrong parts of the game.”
For the Raiders, senior guard Alex Quick made the first quarter his own, as he netted Richmond’s first nine points of the game. He made three jumpers before adding a three-pointer from the left wing to make it a 12-9 ball game in favor of the Rams.
Fellow senior and shooting guard Rod Newton splashed home a triple in the final moments of the first quarter, Richmond’s only other basket in the first eight minutes, to end it trailing 17-12. Newton’s basket would start an 8-0 Raider run that spanned into the second quarter, which saw an Xavier Pettigrew spinning bucket and another Newton three-pointer tie the game at 17 points.
Another tie, this time with the score knotted at 22 points apiece, would be the last time Richmond didn’t trail in the game. Quick ended the half with a pair of free throws at the 1:11 mark, making it a one-possession game at intermission.
The Rams came out of the locker room and used three-pointers from Zarique Harrington, Zack Carter and Rufus Harris to catch the Raiders off guard and roll out to a game-high 17-point lead, 48-31.
Richmond was outscored 29-17 in the third stanza, as Xavier Pettigrew led the team in the frame with 10 points. Entering the fourth quarter, the Raiders had cut the deficit to 15 points, but still trailed 56-41.
That’s when Newton and Xavier Pettigrew took over, as the senior tandem combined for 17 points. Newton, who led Richmond with six three-pointers, hit a deep triple at the top of the key at the 5:25 mark that started his own 11-point run for the Raiders. He dropped two more threes, while also adding a floater in the lane.
But for every basket the Raiders made, Harris and the Rams seemed to answer. Newton and Harris traded baskets on six straight possessions, and the Raiders soon found themselves down just one point, 60-59, with just over 3:30 left in regulation.
Purnell Swett opened the lead to 67-62 following another Harris basket, as he finished with 15 points, all in the second half. Newton banked a triple off the glass to make it a one-possession game again, but the Raiders ran out of gas soon after. Darriante Parker, who also finished with 15 points, hit five free throws in the closing minute to secure the win.
Newton ended the game with a season-high 21 points for the Raiders, and saw 18 more come from Pettigrew. Quick’s fast start gave him 13 points on the night.
“Alex got off to a good start and we have to be more consistent early on as a team,” Pettigrew closed. “That’s good for us going forward and hopefully we pick things up.”
Richmond is off until Friday, Dec. 14, when it will travel to Pinecrest High School. Tip off is schedule for 7:30 p.m. following the Lady Raiders’ game.
