WADESBORO — The new year started the same way the last one ended for the Richmond Senior girls basketball team — with a loss.
Anson held Richmond scoreless in the third quarter en route to a 50-26 victory Wednesday night. It was the ninth straight defeat for Richmond, which falls to 2-9 on the season.
The Raiders went nearly 13 1/2 minutes without a basket. Jade Evans, who scored a team-high 14 points off the bench, hit a jumper at the 4:30 mark of the second quarter. Richmond wouldn’t find the scoring column again until Evans scored on a follow with 7:02 remaining in the game.
Despite the loss and the offensive struggles, Richmond coach Victoria DeFrate saw a few bright spots.
“Anson is a good team and I thought we played decent defense against them,” DeFrate said. “Our shoots just didn’t fall. We got decent shots.”
Once again turnovers were a big reason Richmond fell behind early. Anson forced 15 first half turnovers to build a 34-14 halftime lead. By the end of the first quarter, the Bearcats had called off their full-court press.
The Bearcats nearly had the tables turned on them in the fourth quarter as the Raiders held them without a point for 5 1/2 minutes. Anson’s Shinitra Little hit two free throws with 2:31 left in the contest. Richmond went on to outscore the home team 12-8 in the frame.
“We have flashes of when we play really well,” DeFrate said. “We just need to keep thinking about the positives.”
DeFrate said her team’s focus will turn to the Southeastern Conference slate, which begins 6 p.m. Friday at Purnell Swett.
“I think we played better today than we did against Pinecrest,” DeFrate said. “If we keep improving by the time we start conference, we will be fine. It all starts anew. No one will care what you did before conference.”
— Sports editor Shawn Stinson can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 14, or by email at sstinson@heartlandpublications.com.
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