SOUTHERN PINES – While most area students are enjoying some time away from school during the Christmas break, Richmond Senior High School’s varsity boys basketball team is hard at work.
After only winning one of their first six games, the Raiders defeated a tough Southern Lee (10-2) team 55-54 on December 19. Then the Raiders travelled to Wadesboro where they knocked off Parkwood and Chesterfield (S.C.) on December 22 and 23 to win their third straight Anson Invitational title.
They enjoyed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with their families, but then had to quickly get back to the court to prepare for the first round of “Holiday in the Pines Tournament” at Pinecrest High School on Wednesday evening where they were slated to face the Trinity School Lions in hopes to get their record back to .500.
Unfortunately, they fell just short of that goal falling to Trinity 57-56 in a round one heartbreaker.
Richmond’s junior guard Bobby Terry got things going when his stripped the ball away from Trinity’s Marcotis Hall and laid the ball in for the game’s first two points. A jumper by senior forward Malik Flowers about a minute later put the Raiders up by four.
Trinity would cut the lead in half on a pair of Hall free throws, but Richmond answered seconds later when junior guard Roderick Newton found an open look from outside of the arc and sent the ball swishing through the net for three.
The two teams traded baskets over the next few possessions and it looked as though the Raiders would take a 13-7 lead into the second quarter. However, with just five seconds remaining, Trinity put the ball in the hands of junior guard Noah Dinkins, who launched one from half court that dropped through at the buzzer cutting Richmond’s lead to three.
Dinkins, who averages 23 points per game, was not done yet. After hitting one of two from the free throw line just seconds into the second quarter, he knocked down another three-pointer after he was left wide open in the corner on Trinity’s next possession. This gave the Lions their first lead of the game at 14-13 with 7:25 remaining in the second quarter.
Later in the second, Dinkins connected on another free throw putting the Lions up 20-15 with 4:28 left in the second which would be their largest lead of the game. That’s when Richmond stopped the bleeding. The Raiders ended the half on an 11-2 run starting with a floater by senior point guard Darrius Butler, followed by a layup by Terry.
On the other end of the court, Flowers rejected Trinity’s Cameron Durst. The loose ball was scooped up and passed ahead to junior Alex Quick, whose floater put the Raiders back on top 21-20 with 1:45 on the clock. Terry added two more with a pull-up jumper with about a minute to go, and junior guard Malik Stanback ended the first half scoring with three-pointer to send the Raiders to the locker room with a 26-22 advantage.
Flowers and Butler each scored in the opening seconds of the third quarter extending the Richmond lead to eight at 30-22 – the largest lead for the Raiders in the game. However, the Raiders would be plagued by turnovers and missed shots for the remainder of the third quarter allowing the Lions to go on a 17-7 run. This run included back-to-back three-point plays by Dinkins, the second of which put Trinity back in the lead at 37-35 with just over a minute left in the third period.
The fourth quarter saw three ties and three lead changes as the two teams battled back and forth, trading baskets, and accumulating fouls. When the dust settled, two players had fouled out and the two teams had attempted 29 fourth-quarter free throws. However, none were as big as the final two.
With 46 seconds remaining, Flowers hauled in an offensive rebound and returned it to the hoop to cut Trinity’s lead to two at 55-53. Trinity turned the ball over when an errant pass sailed into the stands, giving Richmond the opportunity it needed. Somehow, the ball ended up in the hands of a wide open Stanback who, in heroic fashion, drained a three with only 26 seconds left on the clock putting the Raiders back on top by one.
After a Trinity timeout, the Lions did exactly what they had done on 12 of their last 13 possessions – they drew a foul. Jayden Smith, who was four-for-four at the line, took the inbound pass and darted straight into the paint where he was fouled with eight seconds left in the game.
Smith once again connected on both free throws putting his team up by one at 57-56. The Raiders had no answer this time and when the buzzer sounded; their three-game winning streak had come to an end.
Dinkins led all scorers with 22 points for the Lions. Flowers was the top scorer for Richmond with 13, while Terry was close behind with 12. Stanback also reached double digits with 10, and Newton netted eight. Senior guard Da’Shaun Wallace scored five, Butler had four, and Quick and freshman guardd Caleb Hood each had 2.
Also in round one action, Windsor Forest from Savannah, Ga., defeated Holly Springs 76-75 after a last second shot for Holly Springs rimmed out at the buzzer. Pinecrest (9-1) and New Life Christian Academy (15-6) received first round byes.
In Thursday’s round two action: Holly Springs (2-8) will square off against Richmond (4-6) at 4:30 p.m., Windsor Forest (9-3) will face New Life at 6 p.m., and Trinity (7-2) will meet their Pinecrest hosts in the 7:30 p.m. game.
