CHAPEL HILL — At the onset of the season in November, the Lady Raider basketball team had one ultimate goal in mind.
And that was to win the program’s first state championship.
Now three months later, the goal remains the same as ever for Richmond and head coach Taneika Reader, whose message to the team is to have “tunnel vision to the state championship.”
The NCHSAA finalized its playoff brackets Sunday evening and the Lady Raiders earned the No. 3 seed in the 4A East bracket.
That was the highest seed the Lady Raiders have received in recent memory. Last winter, RIchmond was a No. 5 seed and three seasons ago the Lady Raiders were a No. 8 seed.
No. 3 Richmond (19-5) will begin its hopeful run to history with a first round matchup against No. 30 Heritage High School (10-14).
As expected, at least on paper, the Lady Raiders are heavily favored to win the game against the Lady Huskies and head coach Pat Kennedy.
Richmond enters the postseason on a 10-game winning streak, while Heritage has lost four consecutive games and seven of its last 10 games of the season.
At home this winter, the Lady Raiders have defended their court with an 8-2 record, while the Lady Huskies have gone 4-9 on the road.
During the regular season, Richmond went 11-1 against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponents, securing a co-conference championship title alongside Union Pines High School. Heritage managed to record a 4-6 mark in the Northern Conference, placing the team fourth overall.
On the scoreboard, the Lady Raiders have recorded much better averages this season than the Lady Huskies. Richmond is averaging 54.8 points per game to Heritage’s 40.5 PPG, while allowing 38.1 PPG, similar to the Lady Huskies’ 39.1 points allowed per game.
Senior point guard Jamyia Lindsey has averaged 24.4 PPG this season. While Lindsey will no doubt be a big part of Richmond’s success, Reader said secondary scorers need to contribute as well if the team wants to make a deep run.
Richmond’s other leading scorers this season are junior Jasiah Gilchrist (10.7 PPG), junior Olivia Brown (6.8 PPG) and sophomore Madisen Jackson (6.5 PPG).
No players for the Lady Huskies have averaged double-digits this season. Sophomore Reagan Mondell-Long (9.9 PPG) and Niyeon Hendrix (8.5 PPG) have led the team in scoring.
The No. 3 Lady Raiders and No. 30 Lady Huskies will tip-off at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Richmond Senior High School. That game will be followed by the No. 8 Raiders hosting No. 25 South View High School.
