With a two-game losing streak dating back to before the New Year, the Richmond Senior J.V. men’s basketball team was itching to get back on the court this week and get back on the right track.

Alas, Mother Nature had other plans, as this week’s winter storm caused the postponement of Tuesday night’s scheduled home game vs. Purnell Swett.

And with four snow days called due to the storm, the J.V. Raiders were not even able to hit the court for practice.

So, Richmond J.V. coach Donald Pettigrew was expecting a bit of rust Friday night when his J.V. Raiders hosted Lumberton.

The anticipated sloppy play was there. But the J.V. Raiders had more than enough good play to hold off the J.V. Pirates, 55-37.

With the win, the J.V. Raiders improved to 8-3 on the season (1-1 SEC).

After a sluggish start, the J.V. Raiders pushed out to a 29-19 halftime advantage and led by as many as 18 in the third quarter.

Lumberton closed the gap to 10 early in the fourth quarter before Richmond closed the game with a 10-2 run.

The game was another in a number of valuable lessons for his young team, Pettigrew said. “We have to learn that no lead is comfortable,” Pettigrew said. “We have a tendency to relax when we get a big lead, and we have to learn not to do that.”

Raheem Bowden led the J.V. Raiders with 16 points. Robert Williams added 14, and Greg Patterson and Jalen McDonald chipped in with eight points apiece.

Richmond is idle until next Friday night when the J.V. Raiders will travel to Pinecrest. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m.

Lumberton J.V. women 51, Richmond 26

With four snow days this week due to the winter storm that brought much of the Carolinas to a standstill, the Richmond Senior J.V. women’s basketball team had not played since last Friday night at Hoke County.

Friday night at home against Lumberton, it showed, as the J.V. Lady Raiders struggled to find any kind of rhythm on either offense or defense in a lopsided loss to the J.V. Lady Pirates.

Out of the gate, things didn’t look bad at all for the J.V. Lady Raiders, who surged out to a quick 6-0 lead in the opening two minutes of the contest.

But that was the only offensive firepower the J.V. Lady Raiders displayed for quite awhile. Lumberton, after a quick timeout, outscored Richmond, 14-0 over the remainder of the period.

The J.V. Lady Raiders showed some signs of shaking off the cobwebs early in the second quarter, as another 6-0 burst to start the period cut the Lumberton edge to three at 15-12. But the J.V. Lady Pirates quickly erased the J.V. Lady Raider surge with a 6-0 run of their own, and took a 26-14 lead into the locker room at intermission.

Richmond was unable to cut into the Lumberton advantage at all in the third, and still trailed by 12 entering the final stanza. The fourth quarter was all Lumberton, as the J.V. Lady Pirates outscored Richmond, 14-2 in the period to win going away.

Richmond returns to action next Friday night on the road at Pinecrest. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.

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