ROCKINGHAM — With under a minute left in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s first-round home matchup of the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament against Purnell Swett, Richmond Senior guard Caleb Hood banked home a spinning layup and converted the ensuing free throw to put the Raiders up by one after trailing the entire second half.
“I didn’t really plan a move. I was just trying to score, and then he came to my right and I just spun on him,” said Hood after the 49-46 come-from-behind victory. “It was big because we were down and then we came back and took the lead, so it meant a lot.”
The junior wing scored eight of his team-high 17 points in the final period, including a rebound and putback layup that cut the deficit to just two before he converted the go-ahead three-point play.
“I just didn’t want to lose…I just wanted to keep playing,” said Hood.
With the victory, Hood and No. 3 Richmond will indeed keep playing as they travel to second-seeded Lumberton in the semifinal round on Thursday.
The Raiders (18-7) were down double digits heading into the final period, in large part, because of the heroics of Rams senior forward Xavier Jones.
Jones had a game-high 21 points, 12 of which came in the first half.
Despite winning the first two meetings this year, Richmond coach Donald Pettigrew told his group before the contest to expect a fight from veteran coach Jeremy Sampson and the Rams who were trying to keep their postseason dreams alive.
“Jeremy did a good job of having his guys coming out ready to play. It’s tournament time, so everybody trying to get that ticket,” said Pettigrew.
The Rams held a slight 24-22 advantage at the break. Jones put in seven points in the third, including a reverse layup that capped a 10-0 run to end the frame and give the visitors a 40-29 lead.
That’s when Pettigrew issued a challenge for his group to give a better effort in the final eight minutes.
“We got to do a better job of hustling. Loose balls, rebounding —pick up the pace, which they did,” he said. “We were down big and they could’ve easily held their heads down but they kept playing and believing in each other.
After a Jones putback layup off a missed free throw that extend the margin to 44-29 in the beginning of the fourth, Hood immediately responded with a reverse layup.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to get him to do all year, drive to the basket. Once he lowers those shoulders, he’s tough to stop,” Pettigrew said of Hood. “He came ready to play in the fourth quarter and that was big for us. We needed every bit of it.”
The reverse sparked a 7-0 Raiders’ spurt, punctuated by a short jumper from Nygie Stroman that made it 44-36 with under six minutes left.
A couple of minutes later, Jarvis Tillman swished a 3-pointer off an inbound play that closed the gap to 46-42 and set up Hood’s run to seal the comeback.
Up next, the Raiders attempt to reverse recent misfortunes against the Pirates, having drop both games to them this season.
“Just keep it going and try to play our best ball…and get our face back,” Hood said of the semifinal matchup.
Tip-off from Lumberton on Thursday is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Richmond guard Quamir Sivels finished with 11 points. Stroman added eight points and six rebounds, while P.J. McLaughlin both added eight points and a team-high three steals in the win.
Garyan Maynor chipped in with eight points for Purnell Swett (7-16) whose season ends with the loss.