ROCKINGHAM — For the first time this season in Sandhills Athletic Conference play, the Richmond Raiders didn’t play with the proper sense of urgency.
Hosting Lumberton High School on Friday, the Raiders let the Pirates off to a fast start and couldn’t regroup. Richmond dropped its first SAC game of the season 68-38.
Facing a stout Lumberton defense, and leading scorer Jordan McNeill, who had a game-high 26 points, the Raiders struggled from the perimeter and couldn’t penetrate low in the paint.
“We didn’t come out with the sense of urgency we usually have,” head coach Donald Pettigrew said. “We got hit in the mouth and didn’t respond well in the first half. There were easy baskets we missed and the guys weren’t tuned in as normal.”
Pettigrew added that Richmond will use the loss as a teaching moment moving forward.
Leading Richmond on the scoresheet was junior forward Nygie Stroman with nine points, while fellow junior forward Dalton Stroman added seven points, all coming in the second half.
Juniors Patrick McLaughlin and Dylan Lewis each chipped in five points, sophomores Jalen David and Kellan Hood added five and three points, respectively, and junior Jakolbe Baldwin added a bucket.
From the line, the Raiders struggled, hitting just 6-of-18 free throws. Richmond also had its lowest scoring first half of the season, putting up just nine points in the opening 16 minutes.
Lumberton (12-2, 3-1 SAC) rolled out to a 14-2 lead after the first period, seeing McNeill net five points and Jadarian Chatman and Charlie Miller added three apiece. The only Raider points in the quarter came at the 4:04 mark when Nygie Stroman landed a two-handed jam.
The scoring got better for Richmond in the second, seeing seven points put on the board. Lewis hit a triple from the right corner while Nygie Stroman and Caleb Hood added field goals.
McNeill outscored Richmond by himself, making five baskets and two free throws in the second. At the half, the Raiders trailed 39-9.
Pettigrew noted that the Raiders played better in the second half, but it was too little, too late to erase the 30-point deficit.
“The second half was better for us, we settled in a little bit,” Pettigrew said. “Jakolbe, Dalton, Jalen and Kellan played hard and physical. When we started getting the ball moving in the second half, it got their defense moving and we put more points up.
“Now we need to regroup, especially with how much we were standing around tonight,” he continued. “Their coach made it tough for us to drive the lane tonight.”
Richmond closed the game with 11 points in the third and had its best scoring quarter in the fourth, putting up 18 points. Dalton Stroman had four points in the third and three more in the final stanza, while Nygie Stroman and McLaughlin each added five in the second half.
It’ll be a quick turnaround for Richmond (10-3, 4-1 SAC) when it hosts South Mecklenburg High School (5-8) on Saturday. The game will begin around 3:30 p.m. following the junior varsity game.
“They’re a different kind of opponent and we want to get this nasty taste out of our mouth early,” Pettigrew closed. “The guys need to come out ready to play.”
