RAEFORD — It may have taken a little bit longer than it wanted, but the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team picked up its first conference win of the season on Tuesday.
Facing the threat of dropping its fourth-straight Sandhills Athletic Conference game to begin the year, the Lady Raiders earned a big road win over Hoke County High School.
Using a season-high 21 points from senior Keionna Love, and 11 more points from freshman Kyla Sampson, Richmond topped the Lady Bucks 64-42.
“We were definitely able to get the monkey off our back and get our first conference win,” head coach Teddy Moseley said. “We didn’t have a speech before the game -- we just told the girls to go out and win.
“Sliding Keionna over to the point tonight was key because that made a difference with her being able to get everyone else involved,” he added of Love. “And then she was able to score herself.”
Love was big for the Lady Raiders on the opening and closing ends of the game, scoring seven points in the first quarter and then sealing the deal with eight more points in the fourth.
Off the opening tip, Richmond (9-4, 1-3 SAC) controlled the tempo of the game, rolling out to an 18-0 lead. Love’s seven points came in that span and Sampson banked a three-pointer off the glass.
Teammates Jakerra Covington, Jayla McDougald and Bree Wall added points in the frame, and sophomore Jamiya Ratliff ended the period with a triple from the right corner with 20 seconds left.
Wynashia Bratcher put Hoke County on the board with a free throw at the 2:30 mark of the first. Richmond took a 23-6 lead into the second.
The Lady Raiders added 10 points in the second stanza, seeing Wall notch the final four of her six points. Love, Ratliff and Davionna Campbell scored two points to make it 33-16 at the break.
Campbell and Sampson were big for Richmond on the offensive end to start the second half, each putting up five points. Sampson hit a three-pointer and a mid-range jumper, while Campbell had two putbacks and a free throw.
Love chipped in four more points in the third, getting help with two more points each from Covington and McDougald. Both teams traded baskets for a majority of the third, as Hoke County kept pace but still trailed by as many as 25 points.
To begin the fourth, Love took a left-handed drive to the bucket and converted on the and-one opportunity. She added another field goal and was mirrored by Campbell in transition. Love scored her final five points on the next two possessions.
“We’re looking to make a run now,” Moseley said. “We divide our season into four quarters with six games apiece. In the first half we went 8-4 and now we’re 1-0 to start the third quarter. As long was we keep taking games one at a time, we’ll keep getting better.
“There’s still time for us to turn it around,” he closed. “There are a lot of things I still want to work on like our rebounding. But now we’re going to get ready for Lumberton.”
Campbell was just shy of double digits, scoring nine points, and Covington finished with eight points. For Hoke County (4-9, 0-4 SAC), Bratcher had a team-high 14 points.
Richmond will practice the next two days and host Lumberton High School (8-4, 1-1) on Friday at 6 p.m. in another pivotal SAC contest.
