ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior High fans were shaking the bleachers with every foot stomp and hand clap during the late stages of Friday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference showdown against undefeated Pinecrest.
Richmond’s Quamir Sivels stepped to the free throw line with his team clinging to a one-point lead and just ticks left on the clock. The senior guard coolly knocked in two from the stripe and with a misfire from Pinecrest’s Bradlee Haskell at the buzzer, the Raiders escaped with a 53-50 win to remain unbeaten.
Though he watched his team squander an early 10-0 start and saw the visitors tie things up late in the fourth quarter, Richmond (6-0, 2-0 SAC) coach Donald Pettigrew was proud of the wire-to-wire victory.
“We got to do a better job of taking care of the ball. But that’s us growing as a team. We’re going to fix that and make better decisions,” he said. “They did a good job. They’re resilient.”
Sivels led the group with 14 points and was part of an early barrage that sent the Raider faithful in a frenzy early in the first quarter. Fellow starter Nygie Stroman capped a 10-0 run to start the contest with a 3-pointer that forced a Pinecrest (5-1, 1-1 SAC) timeout.
The Raiders hot start was fueled by lockdown defense and they took a 16-8 lead into the second period. A Sivels 3-pointer from well beyond the arch gave the team its largest advantage of the half, 24-15.
Pinecrest followed with a 8-0 run to get within one point and the Raiders eventually took a 28-24 lead into the break.
After an uneventful third period that saw the Patriots defense tighten and force turnovers, the final stanza was loaded with clutch plays from both teams.
Haskell was key for the Patriots in the period, and his pull-up jumper midway through the quarter cut the lead, 46-41. He finished with a game-high 19 points.
But it was Stroman who would prove to make more winning plays to key the victory down the stretch.
“Nygie is tough, man. And he hasn’t even really got loose yet,” Pettigrew said of his leading scorer on the season.
After the Patriots had cut the margin to three, Stroman’s breakaway layup pushed it back to 48-43 with just over two minutes remaining. Then, his rebound and putback moments later stretched the lead to 50-45.
Haskell would assist on a layup to tie the game at 50 with just 40 seconds left, but Stroman split a pair of free throws on the other end to retake the lead and Sivels sealed the win with his two foul shots with 1.1 seconds left.
“When we get back in the gym and get back to work Monday, get the guys more acquainted with what we do, we’re going to be fine,” said Pettigrew. “We just got to continue to get better as a team, as group and as a whole.”
Richmond returns to the floor on Tuesday at Cheraw.
Lady Raiders fall late against Pinecrest
A strong second-half effort from the Richmond Senior girls basketball team came up short in Friday’s home game against Pinecrest, as they lost 61-53.
Richmond (4-2, 0-2 SAC) coach Teddy Moseley wasn’t thrilled about the lackluster start, but was happy to see his team make a late push.
“Overall, we didn’t play well defensively, but the second-half effort was much better,” Moseley said of his group after the second league loss to the start the year.”
Pinecrest wing Keayna McLaughlin finished with a game-high 29 points and did most of her damage in the early going. Her basket, plus the foul halfway through the second quarter gave the visitors an early 26-12 advantage.
The Lady Raiders would trail by 10 at the break, then senior wing Keionna Love and freshman guard Kyla Sampson ignited a comeback.
Love ended with a team-high 20 points and Sampson chipped in with nine points. Love’s 3-pointer midway through the third cut the deficit to 38-34, then Sampson nailed a triple later in the period to trim the margin back to four points after Pinecrest had answered with a run.
“Kyla Sampson was tremendous tonight. She had her best game against the best team we’ve faced,” said Moseley.
Sampson knocked in another shot from deep with five minutes left in the fourth and cut the deficit again, 51-45.
But Moseley says the team needs to devote less attention on watching the ball and focus more on where their defensive assignment is, something that plagued them in the final moments of the contest as McLaughlin and Co. sealed the win.
The Lady Raiders travel to Cheraw for a non-conference rematch on Tuesday.
