ROCKINGHAM — Raider Gymnasium was the scene of several slam dunks Monday night as the Richmond Senior High School boys varsity basketball team made its long-awaited home debut against the visiting Ronald Reagan High School Raiders.
Despite Richmond slamming home three dunks, two by junior Jarvis Tillman and another by senior AJ Isaac, the home Raiders lost to the visiting Raiders 51-50 on a late-game jump shot by Clayton Crawford. With the loss, Richmond is now 1-5 on the season, as its only win came against Reagan on Dec. 7, in a 46-31 decision.
“We had a chance to close it out late, and we had a senior at the line, but he couldn’t knock them down,” second-year head coach Donald Pettigrew said of his son, Xavier Pettigrew. “He has to hit those shots, and he knows that. Zay didn’t score tonight, and he needs to score for us to be successful.”
Xavier Pettigrew went to the free throw line after being fouled with 1:26 left in the fourth quarter with the Richmond Raiders leading 49-47. After the missed attempts, Crawford tipped in an offensive rebound to tie the game at 49 on the next Reagan possession. Following a timeout, senior Alex Quick gave Richmond a one-point advantage as he hit one of two free throws.
With just 47 seconds left in regulation, the Reagan Raiders stormed down the court and set up the game-winning sequence that found the ball in the hands of their leading scorer. Crawford took a pass off a screen near the top of the key, and drained a contested jump shot over senior Rod Newton with just 20 seconds on the clock.
Pettigrew didn’t call a timeout, explaining that he believed is players could put together a final drive that would would the game. Richmond did the same thing as Reagan, seeing its best shooter of the night, Newton, get the ball in the waning moments.
Newton worked the far sideline before dribbling along the baseline, but his off-angle attempt sailed over the bucket and out of bounds as the final buzzer sounded.
“Rod contested (Crawford’s) shot,” Pettigrew said. “It was a tough two and he just knocked it down. We had a shot attempt (at the end), but we could have had a better look. Defensively, we stepped it up late, but they just had a good play.”
In the first quarter, neither team found a rhythm, as Richmond ended the first eight minutes with a 5-4 lead. The only baskets in the frame came from sophomore Nygie Stroman and Isaac, with Isaac also hitting a free throw.
Reagan outscored Richmond 21-14 in the second quarter to give the visiting Raiders a 25-19 halftime lead. Six different players combined to score for Jeff Overby’s team, but it was a slam by Tillman that got the crowd rocking, which cut the deficit to 17-11 with three minutes left.
Newton drained back-to-back triples, one from the top of the key and the other from the right corner, in the final 1:40. Sophomore guard Caleb Hood muscled his way for a basket under the hoop as time expired to cut the Reagan lead to six points.
To begin the third quarter, Newton, who tallied a game-high 16 points, drilled two more three-pointers to make it a one-possession game. Reagan answered to maintain its small lead, but a monster two-handed slam by Isaac off a steal made it 30-29 in favor of Reagan.
On the inbound, Newton stole the ball and his layup gave Richmond its first lead, 31-30, since the end of the first quarter. Before the end of the third stanza, Tillman snagged a steal and turned it into a loud two-handed dunk, while freshman Kellan Hood splashed a three-pointer to give the Raiders a 40-37 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Both teams would trade baskets for the remainder of the game, as missed opportunities at the line haunted Richmond in the long run. A close-range shot by Tillman gave Richmond a four-point lead, 47-43, with four minutes to go, but Reagan managed to outscore the Raiders 8-3 in the closing minutes.
“I thought we played much better tonight than we did against Pinecrest,” Pettigrew explained. “We just couldn’t get over the hump, and we have to turn the switch on and find better ways to score early on.
“PJ McLaughlin did better job controlling the game, and in the second half, our guys kept playing hard,” he added of his sophomore point guard. “We were laxed in the first half, and I think that’s because we had beaten them before. The guys need to learn they’ve got to play a complete game every night.”
Pettigrew added that Newton “played really good and kept us in the game,” and that Tillman had seven blocks on the night, with four of them coming in the opening two minutes. He also said Isaac “stepped up and is still working some kinks out” after joining the lineup following the extended football season.
Aiding Newton’s 16 points were eight from Tillman and seven more from Isaac. McLaughlin had five points, including a fourth-quarter triple, and Hood and Stroman tallied four points apiece in the loss. Crawford led the Reagan Raiders with 15 points.
Richmond will look to win its second game of the season on Friday, Dec. 21, as the Raiders will play Parkwood High School (Monroe, N.C.) in the opening round of the Anson Shootout. Tip off for game one in the holiday tournament is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Anson High School.
Note: The Raider junior varsity team travelled to Reagan Monday, losing 55-48. Despite the loss, sophomore Dalton Stroman recorded a double-double, scoring a team-high 27 points, adding 11 rebounds. Fellow sophomore teammate Jakolbe Baldwin almost hit double digits in points, as he ended the game with nine points and 11 boards. Freshman Jalen David chipped in seven points. Head coach Tony Terry's team is now 2-3 on the season.
