Raiders drop another one, this time to Lumberton
By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
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ROCKINGHAM — There was, perhaps, no better opportunity to showcase the reason for this year’s struggles than on Friday night.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Brianna Baysek finished with four points in Richmond’s 57-20 loss to Lumberton.
The Raiders’ regular season home finale was coupled with Senior Night. The midcourt presentation didn’t last long. Richmond’s girls have only two seniors — Jarae Nicholson and Sarah Maske each were hugged and handed flowers by coach Victoria DeFrate — and the rest are expected to return next season.
And after a 57-20 loss to visiting Lumberton, next season can’t arrive soon enough. The host Raiders were overwhelmed from start to finish in the third-to-last regular season game. The final two games are next week, on the road at Pinecrest and rival Scotland.
Before Richmond could look at the rest of the schedule, though, the Raiders had to get past the Pirates — or at least muddle through 24 minutes of a one-sided contest that wasn’t on their side.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Zariah Williams, pictured, and Zelda McLaughlin led the Raiders with five points apiece.
Hurried shots and poor field goal percentage hurt the young Raiders early and often. Richmond managed to get off only six shots in the first quarter and none of them found the bottom of the basket. Zelda McLaughlin’s two free throws with 21.6 seconds left in the first quarter prevented the shutout. Even then, though, Lumberton held a 19-2 lead.
It didn’t get much better after the first six minutes. Richmond was 2-for-15 in the second quarter — only 13.3 percent — and trailed 26-7 at halftime.
Richmond regained focus to start the second half — a 3-pointer by Nicholson and a layup from Brianna Baysek pulled the Raiders to within 26-12. But Richmond couldn’t withstand the Pirates’ intensity for long, and Lumberton scored 15 of the game’s next 18 points to pull away.
Williams and Zelda McLaughlin led Richmond with five points each. Baysek added four points, while Nicholson’s 3-pointer was her only points of the game and Kalaysia Fisher chipped in with two points.
London Thompson led the Pirates with 19 points, while LeeTerrione Barnes added 12 points in the win.Jarmine McBride had nine points and Randi Bullard and Mariah Locklear tacked on seven points apiece. Kierra Page added three points for Lumberton.
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