ROCKINGHAM – Believing in the new system put in place for the Richmond Senior High School varsity boys basketball team is part of this season’s rhetoric for head coach Donald Pettigrew.
And despite a close 64-58 loss to Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Seventy-First High School at home Wednesday night, Pettigrew acknowledged that the Raiders are on the cusp of finding their footing.
“I thought our guys played hard tonight,” Pettigrew said. “We need to keep trusting in what we’re trying to do. Last night, we had our best practice of the season; we were making the extra pass, driving, kicking it out. We just didn’t do that tonight.
“For the last couple of years, (the players) are just used to shooting the ball,” Pettigrew continued. “But we’re making a transition to learning to make that extra play.”
Following an extended break due to last week’s winter storm, and subsequent cancelations, this was the first game the Raiders had played since the Holiday in the Pines Tournament shortly after Christmas.
In a game that was fast-paced and saw a lot of back-and-forth play, the Raiders (5-8, 1-4 SAC) couldn’t capitalize late in the game. The Falcons (8-5, 2-3 SAC) did their part, as they drilled 11-of-19 free throws in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. But the Raiders, as Pettigrew would note, had their opportunities.
Richmond fell behind quickly at the game’s start, allowing Seventy-First to jump out to an 8-0 lead thanks to three turnovers by the Raiders in the opening 1:08. But back came Pettigrew’s team, which cut the lead 8-5, following a three-pointer by starting junior guard Alex Quick and an offensive rebound lay in by senior strong forward Malik Flowers.
Flowers got the momentum going with a two-handed jam to cut the lead to 12-9 with just over two minutes remaining, as the Raiders finished the quarter with better ball control and passing. Trailing by five, 18-13, the sound fundamental play by Richmond carried over into the second quarter, their best of the night.
Junior guard Malik Stanback kicked things off with a three-pointer just 12 seconds into the second frame, and senior guard Kaleb Douglas hit a finger-roll floater on the next possession to tie the game at 18 with 6:20 to go in the half.
Outscoring the Falcons 19-13 in the second quarter, Richmond managed to enter the locker room with a one-point lead 32-31. The Raiders grabbed their first lead of the night 28-27 when freshman guard Caleb Hood dished the ball to a driving Flowers in the paint at the 1:45 mark.
Flowers added five of his 11 total points in the second stanza, while junior guard Xavier Pettigrew, who is still nursing a hyperextended knee injury, entered the game to give the Raiders five more points off the bench.
Richmond’s defensive play was much more in tune just before the half, as they contested several Falcons’ shots and played scrappy around the basket to get rebounds.
After letting Seventy-First go on a 4-0 run to start the second half, Xavier Pettigrew took over for Richmond, as he scored the team’s next seven points (three free-throws and two jumpers) to tie the game at 39 apiece. Pettigrew finished the night with a team-high 15 points. Following the tying bucket, Richmond called a timeout.
However, instead of the break working in favor for the Raiders, the Falcons got a burst of momentum and opened the lead with a 9-0 run over the next 2:27. In the third quarter alone, Seventy-First’s senior guard Brion McLaurin netted seven of his game-high 21 points.
Trailing 48-39, Pettigrew called another timeout, and this time it worked. Richmond closed the quarter on a 7-1 run, which included three points from Douglas and a finger-roll off the glass by senior guard Da’Shaun Wallace with just seconds remaining in the quarter.
Defensively in the third, sophomore center Jarvis Tillman collected two big-time blocks down the stretch. Also, Stanback managed to strip the ball from a charging Falcons’ offense and get the steal as time expired in the third.
Trailing by just three points, 49-46, the Raiders had given themselves the opportunity for a late-game push entering the fourth quarter. Back-to-back layups by junior guard Bobby Terry and Stanback regained the lead 50-49 (the first lead of the second half for Richmond). But the essential push never came, as the Falcons meticulously used the clock to their advantage and played keep-away, forcing Richmond to foul.
Following Stanback’s lead-changing bucket, Seventy-First rolled on a 7-0 run, seeing several players, including McLaurin and junior guards Stephon Johnson and Demauriea Nickelson, hit critical free-throws.
Richmond did hit four of its five fourth-quarter free throws, but it wasn’t enough to clip the wings of the Falcons’ lead. Flowers had a strong putback following an offensive rebound, and added two clutch free-throws to cut the lead to 62-58, but the Raiders couldn’t score any more points in the final 17.6 seconds.
“There was a point in the fourth quarter where we were up by one that Da’Shaun had a mismatch, he pulled up for a three (and missed), and that created a change in momentum for us,” Pettigrew said. “We need to continue to trust each other as a team, and we’ll get there.”
Flowers, aside from Pettigrew, was the only other Richmond in double-digits with 11 points. Wallace dropped nine on the night, while Stanback only had six. For Seventy-First, Dontravious Byrd had a team second-best nine points, while Johnson had eight and Nickelson and James Kamara added seven each.
With still roughly half the season to play, and Pettigrew is optimistic that his guys will find the rhythm they need to continue to develop.
The Raiders will hit the road Friday and travel to SAC foe Scotland High School (9-3, 3-1 SAC). Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. as the Raiders look to get back in the win column.
