ROCKINGHAM — Head coach Taneika Reader has said in recent weeks that the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team is a second-half team.
That proved true Tuesday during the first round of the NCHSAA 4A East state playoffs.
A slow first half led to a more productive final two quarters of play as the No. 3 Lady Raiders defeated No. 30 Heritage High School 42-25.
Five Lady Raiders scored in the win, the first postseason victory for Reader. Junior guard Jasiah Gilchrist led the way with 16 points and senior point guard Jamyia Lindsey added 10 points.
Junior Olivia Brown scored all of her six points from three-point land, with junior J’Nasia Neal and sophomore Madisen Jackson each netting five points.
Reader said the Lady Huskies ran an effective box-and-one defense to limit Lindsey, who has averaged 24.4 points per game this season. She praised Gilchrist’s efforts for stepping up when the team needed her.
Neither team found a rhythm in the first half, as turnovers and missed opportunities from inside the paint yielded an 18-12 lead for the Lady Raiders at intermission.
Gilchrist had five fast points in the first quarter, scoring a transition basket and a triple from the left corner to give Richmond a 5-0 lead through the opening 1:11.
Heritage (10-15) cut its deficit to a point before Lindsey hit a free throw and a jumper in the closing 2:14 to give Richmond an 8-4 lead after one.
Another low-scoring period in the second saw Richmond outscore the Lady Huskies 10-8. Neal drained a triple along the right wing and Lindsey scored on a drive to give Richmond its first of two eight-point leads in the half.
Heritage responded and pulled within five points, but a Lindsey bucket through traffic and a Brown three-ball from the left corner extended the lead to six points at half.
Richmond went on a 12-7 run in the third to build its lead to as many as 11 points. Gilchrist had the team’s first four points on a pair of transition buckets following turnovers by the Lady Huskies.
Lindsey was true on two free throws to give Richmond a 24-14 lead, its first double-digit lead of the game, with 4:36 left in the third.
The final two minutes of the period saw Lindsey add her final point of the game from the line, as well as a putback from Gilchrist and Jackson’s first points of the night on a triple from the left wing.
Leading 30-19 entering the fourth quarter, Richmond’s defensive effort turned into offensive production. Neal capped her night with the first points of the quarter in the paint.
Part of a 9-3 run to open the final stanza, Brown connected on her final three-ball. Jackson drove the lane for her final two points and Gilchrist scored on an inbound bounce pass from Lindsey to put Richmond ahead 39-22.
Slowing down the tempo in the final couple of minutes, the Lady Raiders finished their scoring thanks to a bucket and a foul shot from Gilchrist.
The No. 3 Lady Raiders (20-5) will host No. 14 Topsail High School (20-7) Friday during the second round.
The No. 14 Lady Pirates defeated No. 19 Willow Spring High School 53-50 Tuesday to set up their meeting with Richmond. Tip-off is tentatively set for 6 p.m.
