SPRING LAKE — Trying for an upset bid of the top team in the conference came up short for the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team Tuesday.
Looking to even their season series and redeem an overtime loss from earlier in the season with Overhills High School, the Lady Raiders suffered a 54-39 loss to the Lady Jaguars.
Now having dropped three of their last four Mid-South Conference games, the Lady Raiders all but took themselves out of contention for the inaugural conference title with the defeat.
Similar to its previous couple of losses, Richmond was slow out of the gate offensively and couldn’t recover against the first-place Lady Jaguars. In the first and third quarters Tuesday, the Lady Raiders were held to single digits.
Six players found the basket for Richmnd in the game, with junior Kaniah Little leading the team with 11 points. Fellow junior Madisen Jackson also reached double figures and ended with 10 points.
Senior Jasiah Gilchrist finished with nine points, senior Olivia Brown had five points, and senior J’Nasia Neal and junior Iyana Little each scored two points.
Overhills (15-6, 7-0 MSC) took control of the game early by outscoring Richmond 20-7 in the first quarter. Gilchrist and Jackson each had a field goal, Neal made both of her points in the game from the line and Iyana Little had one free throw.
Richmond went on a 10-8 run in the second stanza to cut its halftime deficit to 28-17. Kaniah Little connected for her first points of the game, a three-pointer, to lead the team in the quarter.
Brown, Gilchrist and Jackson each added a bucket for six combined points, while Iyana Little capped her night with another free throw.
Overhills widened its lead by four more points after going on an 11-7 scoring stretch in the third quarter. After three complete, Richmond trailed 39-24.
Brown had a triple in the third, with Richmond’s other four points coming on one field goal apiece from Jackson and Kaniah Little.
Too little, too late, the Lady Raiders had their highest-scoring quarter of the game in the fourth. They scored 15 points across three players, but the Lady Jaguars matched their effort with the same amount of points.
Kaniah Little scored her final six points on three buckets, Gilchrist had five points on two field goals and a free throw, and Jackson chipped in two shots from the floor for her last four points.
The third-place Lady Raiders (10-9, 4-3 MSC) return home for senior night Friday against second-place Pinecrest High School (11-8, 4-1 MSC).
The game will start at 6 p.m. and the team’s three seniors will be recognized afterward before the boys’ game starts.
