Despite an under-.500 record this season, coach Jay Jones has pointed out that his Richmond Raider Green freshmen team has played consistent defense all season.

The Green team put the clamps on Lumberton Monday afternoon, jumping out to a 14-2 first quarter lead en route to a 38-15 victory over the Pirates at the Ninth Grade Academy Gymnasium.

The victory allowed Richmond to rebound from a 31-27 loss to Scotland as the Green team improved its record to 4-5 on the season.

Jones saidhis team gave a strong effort in the four-point loss to undefeated Scotland. Jones added that he believed before the game that his team would have a good chance of bouncing back as long as it played with the same desire.

“I felt like in the Scotland game that we played well defensively,” Jones said.

“I told the guys prior to the game that if we come out with that same defensive intensity, we should be fine. When you hold a team to 15 points, you usually have a good chance of winning.”

The Green team put together a balanced scoring effort as all 10 players scored in the 23-point win. Donyell Miller paced Richmond with eight points, while Devontae Watkins scored six points. B.J. Cooke and Cody Wilson both had five points; Bobby Watkins and Josh Calhoun both chipped in with three points and Rashard Holiday, Taivon Jones, William Pratt and Rafael Gonzalez all had two points apiece.

“It was good to see everyone contribute offensively,” Jones said. “Hopefully, we can be a little more consistent on that end of the floor because we really didn’t score that many points.”

Richmond jumped out to a 14-0 advantage, capped by Josh Calhoun’s fast-break layup with under a minute remaining.

Calhoun’s basket was part of several transition field goals in the opening quarter which helped the Green team build a double-digit lead.

The Pirates failed to score until 28 seconds were left in the first, getting onto the scoreboard on V.J. Hicks’ field goal.

Hicks had a team-high five points as the Green team led by 12 points going into the second.

“We usually struggle in the halfcourt set, but we tend to do well and score points, when we can get out on the break,” Jones said. “Our starters were able to force some turnovers out of our 1-3-1 trap, and our second team gave us some solid minutes as well.”

The Green team continued to play smothering defense, limiting Lumberton to five second-quarter points, while taking a 21-5 cushion into halftime. Richmond forced Lumberton to commit 16 of its 23 turnovers in the first half.

The Pirates got no closer than 15 points in the second half, as Richmond led 30-13 after three quarters of action.

With 4:30 left in the game, Wilson’s 3-pointer increased the Green team’s advantage to 23 points at 36-13. Richmond went on to win by that margin.

The Green team returns to action at South View on Thursday with tipoff slated for 6 p.m.

Richmond will be off next week, but will return against Pinecrest at the Ninth Grade Gym on Wednesday, Jan. 27.

Both Raider Gold girls and boys teams were off Monday. The Gold teams will host Pinecrest today with the girls slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. The boys’ game is slated for tipoff at 6 p.m

Contact sports reporter Corey Davis at 997-3111, ext. 44; e-mail cdavis@yourdailyjournal.com