RAEFORD — Starting the second round of regular-season Mid-South Conference action Friday, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ basketball team couldn’t overcome a slow start.
The Raiders traveled to Hoke County High School and played for the first time in eight days following a string of weather-related postponements and the rust showed, especially in the first quarter.
Unlike their impressive comeback against Pinecrest High School last Thursday, which followed a similar script as Friday, the Raiders came up short 67-62 to the Bucks.
In just their second conference loss of the season, the Raiders fell behind by as many as 16 points in the opening quarter and couldn’t recover.
Head coach Donald Pettigrew said the Raiders started the game flat and “didn’t make good shot decisions,” adding that the team got away from running its sets, which “didn’t allow us to get into a rhythm.”
Playing a big part in closing the early gap was sophomore Donovan Jones, who netted a team-high 22 points. He went off in the second quarter and scored 14 points, helping give the Raiders a small lead at the break.
Other double-digit performances came from freshman Cam’ron Coley (14 points) and sophomore Kerick Hairston Jr. (11 points). Coley had seven of his points in the second, while Hairston Jr. netted nine points in the second half, all on three-pointers.
Seniors Jayden Hamilton and Domonic Tillman scored six and seven points, respectively. Junior Chance Crowder finished with two points.
Seemingly unable to miss from the floor in the opening quarter, Hoke County dominated play and took a 20-6 lead. Coley, Hamilton and Jones each had one basket to start the game.
Not panicking, the Raiders responded with a 25-10 run in the second quarter to take a 31-30 lead into the break.
Starting with a pair of free throws from Hairston Jr., Richmond found success in driving the lane. Aside from a three-pointer early from Jones and a jumper from Hamilton, all of the Raiders’ scoring came in the paint.
Eight of Jones’ second-quarter points were the result of hard drives through traffic, the final of which he completed an and-one opportunity. Coley had a pair of buckets while going to the hoop and he was 3-for-3 from the stripe.
With 16.4 seconds left, Coley converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 31-30 at halftime.
The Bucks (9-9, 3-2 MSC) took the lead for good in the third quarter, outscoring Richmond 19-11. The Raiders’ 11 points came sporadically, starting with Tillman hitting a putback with 5:39 on the clock.
Jones collected a third-chance opportunity and returned it to the cylinder at the midway point of the quarter to keep Richmond within a possession 37-35.
A baseline drive from Coley and one free throw from Tillman over a two-minute span maintained a four-point deficit. With 47 seconds left in the third, Hairston Jr. splashed down a triple from the top of the arc, but Hoke County carried a 49-42 lead into the fourth.
A back-and-forth battle of scoring in the closing eight minutes saw the Raiders score 20 points to the Bucks’ 18 points, most of which were scored at the line for the home team. Hoke County converted 12-of-21 attempts from the free throw line in the quarter.
After Jones made a free throw and Hairston Jr. connected on his second three-ball to make it a five-point game, the Bucks used a 7-0 run over 3:14 to extend their lead to 58-46.
Coley ended the drought for Richmond with a drive along the baseline and Hamilton made a spinning jumper just inside of three minutes.
Breathing some life into the offense, Hairston Jr. was true for a final time on a triple from the left wing, which was followed by a physical putback by Tillman following a takeaway with 96 seconds left. Those five points made it a 59-55 deficit.
But that’s as close as the Raiders would get, as Hoke County took advantage of the bonus and made its final six points from the line after Richmond was forced to foul.
Tillman had a final field goal, Crowder scored two free throws, but a couple of turnovers by the Raiders stalled their late-game momentum. Jones capped his strong performance with a three-pointer for the game’s final points with seven seconds on the clock.
The Raiders (14-6, 4-2 MSC) will return to action Tuesday with another road conference game at Overhills High School (10-9, 3-2 MSC). Richmond will go for the season sweep starting at 7:30 p.m.
