Nothing like watching your season slip away to give a struggling team some extra motivation.

Midway through the third quarter of Monday night’s North Carolina Class 4A quarterfinal playoff game, the Richmond Senior women’s basketball team found itself on the wrong end of a 34-27 score.

Someone needed to step up, and do it quickly.

Senior forward LaShey Brown answered the call, scoring 13 of her game-high 17 points in the second half to lead the Lady Raiders to a 49-46 victory over visiting South View.

Brown said with guard Shaquitta Covington still sidelined by a knee injury and I’Teionna McLaughlin not at 100 percent due to tonsillitis, she knew she’d be called upon to shoulder more of the load.

“I knew what I had to do and I went out there and did it,” Brown said.

With the come-from-behind victory, the Lady Raiders improved to 18-4 on the season. Seeded No. 2 in their section of the bracket, they’ll face No. 1-seeded Clayton Wednesday night at Clayton. Tipoff time is TBA.

It was a game of ups and downs for Richmond. The Lady Raiders came out of the gate on fire, blazing out to a 9-0 lead in the opening two minutes.

But the Lady Tigers weathered the early storm, outscoring Richmond, 11-4 over the rest of the period to trail just 13-11 at the first stop.

The Lady Raiders went ice-cold on offense early in the second, not scoring until the 4:10 mark of the period. South View, meanwhile, scratched its way back into the game, tying the contest at 19 with less than a minute left until intermission. The Lady Tigers took a 23-19 advantage into the locker room.

South View opened the third quarter with a 7-2 win for a nine-point lead at 30-21.

Then, Brown began to take the game into her experienced, capable hands. A drive to the basket, defensive stop and subsequent pair of three throws cut the South View lead to 30-25.

A McLaughlin layup on the next possession pulled the Lady Raiders to within three at 30-27. But a couple of Richmond turnovers helped South View get its lead back out to seven at 34-27.

With two minutes left in the third, the Lady Raiders caught fire again. A 3-pointer by Tiara Ellerbe started the uprising. A Brown drive to the basket cut the lead to two, and with nine seconds left in the stanza, it was Brown again tying the contest for her team at the line.

The two teams traded the lead for the first half of the final quarter, and with two minutes left, it was Brown again stepping up. With the game tied at 43, she drew a foul and calmly sank both free throws to give Richmond a 45-43 advantage.

After a defensive stop, Shaquitta Brewington gave Richmond a four-point advantage with a pair of free throws. Under a minute remained.

Ellerbe got a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup to put her team up by six with under 30 minutes to play, and the Lady Raiders were able to hold on from there.

Richmond interim coach Nellie Harrington was proud of her team’s response to the adversity. “We wanted to come out strong early, and get on top of them,” Harrrington said.

“We slacked off some on defense after that, but we stuck to the game plan.”

That plan was to get Brown the ball.

And despite still battling tonsillitis, McLaughlin put up eight points, including a pair of crucial fourth-quarter buckets.

Ellerbe, a sophomore guard just up from the J.V., had 12 points in just her second look at varsity competition.

Contact sports editor David Vantress at 997-3111, ext. 14 or via email at dvantress@yourdailyjournal.com.