MOORESVILLE — Attempting to shake up the playoff bracket Thursday, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team instead saw its season come to an end.
Playing in the second round of the NCHSAA 7A West state playoffs, the No. 16 Lady Raiders faced No. 1 Lake Norman High School on the road.
The Lady Raiders lost to the Lady Wildcats 99-35 behind a running clock.
Richmond trailed 33-7 after the first quarter and was down 73-18 at halftime.
Although it wasn’t the playoff run she hoped the team would have this season, head coach Taneika Reader sang the praises of the program.
“We knew it was going to be a tall task to try and go in and knock off the No. 1 seed,” Reader said. “Tonight we saw a different level of basketball and a level we tried to match, but just couldn’t get there.
“It’s hard to end our season this way, but I’m so proud of the girls. From day one, every girl bought into what we were trying to do and gave this program her all. I couldn’t ask for anything more and I’m especially proud of our three seniors who gutted it out and played hard all season.
“We’ll take some time to take a break, but we’ll be back to the lab soon,” Reader closed. “This was a year of growth for our program and the building blocks will start to fall into place. There’s a lot of talent coming up in the next few years, so other teams should never count us out.”
Thursday’s game was the final contest for three Lady Raider seniors – Olivia Brown, Jasiah Gilchrist and J’Nasia Neal.
Gilchrist had 13 points to lead the Lady Raiders, while Brown and Neal each scored two points.
Sophomore Alexis Hailey netted eight points in the game and junior Kaniah Little scored two three-pointers for her six points. Scoring two points each were junior Madisen Jackson and sophomore Kaylee Connor.
The No. 16 Lady Raiders’ season ended with an 12-12 overall record in Reader’s second season as head coach.
Richmond went 5-5 in the Mid-South Conference and finished third in the final standings. The team’s longest winning streak of the season was four games, which spanned Dec. 5 through Dec. 13.
A highlight this winter was when Gilchrist reached 1K career points during her final high school season.
The Richmond Observer will publish an article for the All-Mid-South Conference team when it’s announced.
Sports editor’s note: Statistics and game information provided by head coach Taneika Reader.
