FAYETTEVILLE — Even with a loss Friday night, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team secured third place in the Mid-South Conference standings, and likely cemented a first-round home playoff game.
Closing the regular season on the road at Pine Forest High School, the Lady Raiders fell in a turgid affair 32-28 to the fifth-place Lady Trojans.
Despite a strong first quarter of scoring and a lead, Richmond’s offense went stagnant the remaining three quarters. Even so, the team’s defense kept Pine Forest in check and gave the Lady Raiders a chance to retake the lead in the final minutes.
Head coach Taneika Read was straight to the point following the loss — the team has to do better with the playoffs starting next week.
“This was a game we expected to win, and when that doesn’t happen, it stings,” Reader said. “Our defense was pretty good all game, but we just were completely flat on offense. There were too many missed layups, too many missed free throws and not enough offensive rebounds. We had good looks, but couldn’t find the net.
“Playing on the road is tough anywhere you go, but we didn’t rise to our standard of play tonight,” she added. “This isn’t how we wanted to end the regular season with the playoffs starting Tuesday. It’s a little worrisome, but we’ve got a couple of days to refocus and try and get back to our style of play.”
Following an 11-10 lead after the first quarter, Richmond was held scoreless in the second stanza and trailed 16-11 at halftime.
A 7-2 run in favor of Richmond in the third quarter tied the game 18-18. The Lady Trojans, however, outdid the Lady Raiders 14-10 in the final eight minutes to preserve the win.
Leading Richmond in its second lowest-scoring game of the season was senior Jasiah Gilchrist. She scored 12 points, with 10 points coming in the comeback attempt of the second half.
Four other players scored – senior J’Nasia Neal and junior Madisen Jackson each had five points, while senior Olivia Brown scored four points and junior Kaniah Little netted two points.
Trailing 9-3 in the first quarter, Richmond went on an 8-1 run in the final four minutes to take an 11-10 lead. Brown started the run with two free throws and made a deep jump shot for all four of her points.
Neal added her final two points of the quarter from the line and Jackson hit a jumper in transition with 35 seconds left to put Richmond ahead by a point.
Pine Forest used a 6-0 run in the second quarter to enter halftime up 16-11.
Holding the Lady Trojans to just one field goal in the third, it was Gilchrist who scored four of Richmond’s seven points. She had a three-pointer from the right wing to tie the game at 16 points after making a free throw in the opening two minutes.
Jackson also had one free throw and it was Neal who posted up in the lane with 1:14 on the clock to tie the game again at 18 points.
With both teams finding the basket with more regularity in the fourth, a shot by Jackson in the paint gave the Lady Raiders a 20-18 lead in the opening minute, their first advantage since the end of the first.
Richmond showed some spark with a 6-0 run to knot the score 26-26 with 2:29 remaining. Little had a putback, which was followed by an athletic drive from Gilchrist and two Gilchrist free throws.
Pine Forest answered with a 6-2 run of its own in the closing 1:34. Richmond’s final two points were courtesy of Gilchrist at the line, which made it a 30-28 deficit with 32.7 ticks left. The Lady Trojans added two insurance free throws 10 seconds later.
The Lady Raiders finished the regular season with an 11-11 overall record and a 5-5 mark against MSC teams.
The NCHSAA is scheduled to release finalized playoff brackets Saturday. The Lady Raiders are not only projected to make the postseason, but are also projected to host a first-round game.
The Richmond Observer will publish a first-round preview later this weekend. The first round of the 7A playoffs is slated for Tuesday.
