LUMBERTON — It was another back-and-forth matchup between the Richmond and Lumberton boys basketball teams but there was no extra time needed this time around, and the Raiders fell to the Pirates for the second time this week.
A two-point deficit at the end of the third quarter grew to as much as 11 in the fourth after Lumberton’s Stephon Lloyd stole the ball and then tossed it ahead to Jordan McNeill for a layup and a foul. McNeill would make the free throw.
Richmond (7-15, 2-10 SAC) stuck around and was able to bring itself within four points in the final minute, but that was about as much damage as it could do. And Lumberton (11-11, 6-6 SAC) escaped with a 60-56 home victory on Friday.
Both teams had three players finish with double-digits.
Jordan McNeill (17), Stephon Lloyd (14) and Dwayne Davis (10) helped the Pirates complete the regular-season sweep of Richmond, while Xavier Pettigrew (12), Malik Flowers (11) and Rod Newton (11) topped the Raiders’ scoring chart in the loss.
The game kicked off in Richmond’s favor, as a layup from freshman guard Caleb Hood gave the away team an 11-3 advantage. To answer the early run, Lumberton switched to a full-court press, caused some turnovers and was able to eventually tie the game 11-11.
There would be a barrage of three-pointers made — from both sides — and five lead changes over the next 12 minutes of play, but it was the Pirates who went into halftime with a 31-26 lead following a three from Lloyd.
Newton gave the Raiders their last lead of the game with a steal and a fastbreak score early in the second half, and Hood helped them tie the game one last time with a putback layup in the closing moments of the third quarter.
From then on, Lumberton held on to its lead by scoring from different spots on the floor, holding the ball, and making the most of its opportunites at the charity stripe. Lloyd scored eight of his 14 points from the free-throw line in the second half.
SCORING HARD TO COME BY IN 5TH STRAIGHT LOSS
LUMBERTON — A rough start to Friday night’s game, along with a scoring drought in the third quarter, robbed the Richmond girls basketball team of its chance at revenge.
For the second time in three days, the Lady Raiders lost to Lumberton after struggling to score the ball in the early going. Although they found a bit of rhythm before the half, the deficit was too much and they fell 50-35 on the road.
Richmond (5-12, 3-9 SAC) wasn’t held scoreless in the opening period — which is what happened on Wednesday — but it did watch as the Lady Pirates ran out to a 18-0 run in the first seven minutes of play. Jakerra Covington, freshman, scored the team’s first bucket at the 1:09 mark after getting fouled on her way up.
Senior forward Lexyonna Ingram was the only other player to score in the first quarter, laying the ball up nearly 40 seconds after Covington’s layup, and the Lady Raiders trailed 22-4 after one.
Lumberton (18-4, 9-3 SAC) got off to its hot start thanks to a scrappy effort on the defensive end, sparked by Zyehana Cade and her on-the-ball pressure near midcourt. The Lady Pirates’ senior captain London Thompson handled much of the offense’s output, scoring 10 points in the first eight minutes. She would finish with a game-high 22 points.
The Lady Raiders put more points on the board in the second quarter and then saw sophomore guard Keionna Love open the second half with back-to-back three-pointers. That would be their second-to-last bucket of the third quarter, however, until Hailey Miller hit one from deep with 51 seconds left.
Love knocked down two more shots from beyond the arc to end the night with a team-high 12 points. Ingram finished with seven points and sophomore guard Allexis Swiney added six.
Reach sports editor Leon Hargrove Jr. by phone at 910-817-2673 or by email at [email protected]. For stories, scores and updates, follow the Daily Journal’s sports section on Twitter @RCDailySports.
