ROCKINGAM — At the end of the first quarter it appeared as if the Richmond Senior girls were going to get a bit of revenge against Pinecrest.
The problem was there were 24 more minutes to play.
During that time frame, the Raiders went without a field goal in 22 of those minutes as the Patriots rolled to a 45-23 Southeastern Conference victory Monday night.
“No one could score,” Richmond coach Victoria DeFrate said. “We lost our fire after the first quarter. We need to learn how to play all four quarters.”
Shaquail Wall connected on a 3-point field goal with 25 seconds remaining in the first period to give the Raiders an 11-10 lead. The team wouldn’t score another basket until Kivana Keane hit a runner from the left wing with just over two minutes left in the contest.
During Richmond’s long stretch without a field goal, Pinecrest outscored the home team 33-4.
“We know we can’t play like we did tonight,” DeFrate said. “We can’t expect to win if we can’t score more than four points in two quarters. Anyone knows that.”
The Patriots seized control the game in the second quarter behind the inside duo of Felicia Painter and Janea Williams. The pair combined to score 18 of their team’s 26 first-half points. Painter finished with a game-high 18 points, while Williams added eight.
The Raiders have now lost two in a row to fall to 4-11 overall and 2-2 in the SEC, while Pinecrest improves to 10-6 on the season and 3-1 in conference play. Earlier this season, Pinecrest claimed a 47-35 victory in the annual Holiday in the Pines tournament.
Richmond will return to action at 6 p.m. today when SEC rival Scotland visits Raider Gym. The Fighting Scots dropped their first conference game Thursday when the Patriots, behind Williams’ 34-point, 17-rebound effort, held on for a 57-47 win.
— Sports editor Shawn Stinson can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 14, or by email at sstinson@civitasmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @scgolfer.
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