LUMBERTON — Setting a strong defensive tempo early, coupled with a few strong scoring runs in Tuesday’s basketball game, is what Teddy Moseley said helped his team to its second straight win.
The Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team overcame a first-half deficit to earn a 51-46 road win at Lumberton High School.
The game was ruled a “non-conference” contest between the two Sandhills Athletic Conference foes because the new modified conference schedule doesn’t start until Friday.
“The pace was set defensively tonight, and we came out aggressive,” Moseley said. “Allyiah (Swiney) makes such a big difference up top in the zone and she has the ability to pressure the ball. She’s fast, and overall as a team, we played a great defensive game.”
Moseley tipped his cap to Swiney’s defensive efforts for the second time in two games, which saw the junior guard collect a team-best seven steals. He added that he would like to see Richmond convert more points off of turnovers.
“We should have won by probably 20 points if you go back and look at the film, we just didn’t put the ball in the net,” Moseley added. “I tell the girls if we play well on defense, that’s going to bring intensity and energy. Our points came from the defensive end tonight.”
Senior point guard Jayla McDougald finished the game with a season-high 17 points and a team-high five rebounds. Her first 15 points all came via the three-pointer and she finished 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc.
Junior forward Jamiya Ratliff was also in the groove from three-point land, knocking down three of her five attempts. She finished with 13 points and three boards.
Lumberton took an early lead and outscored Richmond 16-11 in the opening eight minutes. McDougald, senior Davionna Campbell and sophomore Kyla Sampson all netted three points. Campbell had a productive game scoring seven points before getting into foul trouble.
The Lady Raiders trailed by as many as seven points in the second quarter, but with four minutes left in the half, the visitors started a 9-0 run to take a two-point lead at halftime.
Swiney, who ended the night with four points, started the stretch with a free throw and added another a few possessions later. Ratliff scored five points in the second, chipping in with a three-pointer from the right corner with 1:50 to play.
Campbell tied the game with a tough bucket under the basket and sophomore C’Nedra Hinson scored her only two points of the game on a dish from McDougald with seven seconds left in the half. That put Richmond up 22-20, a lead the Lady Raiders wouldn’t surrender.
“I was shooting threes really well tonight and I’ve been practicing that a lot,” Ratliff said. “It feels good to get the win and it was a good team effort tonight. That’s what got me going. When Jayla and I get rolling, we feed off that and I think that helps the team out.
“We did good in the zone defense tonight,” she added. “We were able to force a lot of steals in the 3-2 and we remained under control to get the win.”
Richmond extended its lead in the third quarter by using two lengthy scoring runs. The Lady Raiders opened with an 8-2 run in the first three minutes, which featured two McDougald triples and a shot off the glass from Campbell.
A 9-3 surge put the Lady Raiders up double digits, 39-29, before the third stanza was over. Ratliff hit two three-pointers, one from each corner, and senior Jakerra Covington netted the final of her four points under the rim. Freshman Ryelan Lyerly added a free throw.
Lumberton (1-1) used a 5-0 spurt to open the fourth to make it a five-point game. But McDougald would score eight points in the frame, including two three-pointers from the top of the key.
A hard drive from Swiney in the paint, followed by a weaving McDougald layup with 2:34 to play iced the win.
“Jamiya played an excellent game tonight, on offense and defense,” Moseley said of Ratliff. “She really stepped up tonight. And Jayla was just Jayla, doing things we expect her to do. She didn’t start tonight and she had a chip on her shoulder and that showed.
August Smith led Lumberton with 12 points, all coming on three-pointers. Carly Hammonds added 10 points in the loss and La’Kayia Hunt and Sydney Jacobs each finished with five points.
Richmond (2-1) will begin official SAC play on Friday when the Lady Raiders welcome in Purnell Swett High School (2-0). The teams opened the season on Jan. 5 and Richmond fell 62-35. Tip is set for 5 p.m. in Raider Gymnasium.
