Editor’s note — The Richmond County Daily Journal will look back at the top moments from the Richmond Senior athletic department this season.
MOCKSVILLE — One second. A blink of an eye.
That is all that separated Richmond Senior from an appearance in the West Region semifinals.
Trailing by one point in the game’s waning moments, Trey Little pulled down a rebound and sped up the court towards Richmond’s basket. When Little’s path to the rim was stymied, the senior found Josh Calhoun on the right wing.
With a Davie County defender bearing down on him, Calhoun pump faked and looked for some space to shoot. Before Calhoun could launch a possible game-winning shot, the horn sounded ending the Raiders’ season, 66-65. The War Eagles would advance to the West Region finals, falling to West Charlotte.
“I saw the dude coming at me,” Calhoun said. “They were blocking everything, so I pump faked. I needed one more second.”
The Raiders were an unlikely opponent for the War Eagles in the third round. Richmond earned the No. 9 seed in the West Region and opened the playoffs on the road against Butler, the eighth seed. The Bulldogs held a comfortable fourth-quarter lead before the Raiders roared back to send the contest into overtime.
Once in the extra period, Richmond took control. Justin Glenn drilled a 3-pointer to give the Raiders a four-point cushion and Jordan Richardson added two free throws to ice the game. Richardson finished with 14 points, while Glenn added 13. Shydamion Ellerbe scored a career-high 31 points in the 83-78 victory.
“I didn’t think I scored that much tonight,” Ellerbe said. “We showed if we work hard in the game and in practice, we can get to the championship.”
Thanks to 16th-seeded High Point Central upending top seed Sun Valley, the Raiders played host to the Bison. Richmond made good use of the home-court advantage to stop High Point Central 64-53.
The Raiders used solid defense to lock down the Bison’s leading scorer, Cory Hanes. Richmond limited Hanes to one point.
“I thought we were really aggressive tonight,” Richmond coach David Laton said. “We went to the free-throw line 29 times and we outscored them in 2s. They hit eight 3-pointers to our one and we won the game going away. I was very pleased with our effort tonight.”
All five starters were in double figures for the Raiders, led by Little’s 15 points.
“I didn’t want to lose in the last home game,” Little said. “We wanted to push the ball against them, but I think we pushed it a little too fast and got out of control. We played good, solid defense tonight.”
— Sports editor Shawn Stinson can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 14, or by email at sstinson@heartlandpublications.com
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