LUMBERTON — The second half couldn’t have started any better for the Richmond Senior boys basketball team at Lumberton on Friday night.
With man power on the bench and a stifling defense, the Raiders took an eight-point halftime lead out to 20 at the end of the third quarter. That run ended up being the difference as Richmond rolled in its second straight Southeastern Conference game in a 105-78 win over the Pirates.
“The third quarter was the decisive quarter. I just feel like that it was very hot in this gym tonight and it was to our advantage,” Richmond coach David Laton said. “It was a very good game for us.”
The ideal start to the third quarter for Richmond (11-3, 2-1 SEC) came behind the scoring of Malik Flowers. As the fast-paced style of play started to hit the Pirates running on a shallow bench, the Raiders took an eight-point lead at halftime and took the lead to over 20 points.
Flowers’ soaring dunk over the Lumberton defense early in the period put Richmond ahead 61-45. A few possessions later, a Tone Diggs 3-pointer gave the Raiders a 69-48 lead.
Both Diggs and Flowers had their stretches in the game where they carried the offensive load for the Raiders, as Flowers had his to start the third quarter and Diggs had a quick scoring flurry just before halftime.
“Malik is very athletic and he’s a good shooter and an excellent defender on and off the ball,” Laton said. “Diggs is so skill-savvy. If he’s not open he will pass it and if he’s open he will shoot it. He will create off the dribble and do lot of good for us.”
Richmond ran out to 16-7 lead with less than four minutes surpassed in the game on a C.J. McDaniel bucket before the Pirates stormed back. Brion Willis and Kwasheek Breeden had four points each as Lumberton (8-5, 0-2 SEC) fought back to cut the lead to 22-21 with 1:30 left in the first period on a Breeden dunk.
Lumberton carried the momentum into the second quarter as Breeden’s trey from the left wing gave thee Pirates a 29-27 lead that was soon answered by the Raiders. Diggs started his eight-point second quarter with a score to put Richmond up 35-33 with less than four minutes in the first half, and he had a 3-pointer and a three-point play to close the half and give the Raiders a 47-39 lead at the break.
After the last-minute loss to Hoke County to start conference play, the Raiders are rolling and find themselves just one game back of the conference leaders with much improvement in the back-to-back wins.
Diggs had 16 points and Trey Smith and Magic Ward had 12 points. Lumberton’s Tyreik McCallum had a game-best 23 points.
Lady Raiders fall short on the road
In the third quarter of Friday night’s game, London Thompson showed why she shared the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year award last season and why she’s still one of the conference’s top players — on both sides of the ball.
The junior keyed an 18-0 run by the Lady Pirates that erased a five-point Richmond Senior lead and led the Lumberton girls basketball team to a 75-55 win at home.
“We had some turnovers that allowed Lumberton to get quite a few easy shots at the basket,” coach Rosalind McDonald said. “We werent’ able to secure some crucial rebounds during that stretch and that hurts us.”
Out of the half, Richmond (4-6, 1-2 SEC) rode the scoring of Veronica Griffin to take a 38-33 lead midway through the period. Griffin scored four of her six points in the third quarter — which both teams entered with the score tied at 28-all.
From there, Thompson and the Lumberton (12-1, 2-0 SEC) took over.
The Lady Pirates answered with a 18-0 run to take a 51-38 lead with less than two minutes left in the period. Thompson scored the last 10 points of the run with her active play on both sides. Her third-quarter scoring came after totaling four in the first half. She had a game-high 20 points.
After taking a 54-42 lead heading to the fourth quarter, Lumberton’s Madison Canady had seven of her 15 points in the fourth quarter to push the lead out to a comfortable margin for the final quarter.
The Lady Raiders controlled the first quarter, despite forward Zelda McLaughlin picking up two fouls in the first minute and half of the game. Saleemah Brown’s four points led the way as Richmond took a 14-12 lead over Lumberton after the first period of play.
Canady and Destiny Hardin combined to help the Lady Pirates jump ahead in the early part of the second half. Canady and Hardin scored eight to overcome the early hole and take a 27-20 lead with three minutes to go until halftime.
Lumberton was looking to distance itself before the Lady Raiders’ press disrupted its momentum. The turnovers forced by Richmond led to several quick buckets and set up back-to-back 3-pointers from Kieonna Love to tie the game at 28-all heading into the intermission.
Lumberton’s Jasmine McBride added 15 points. Leading the way for Richmond scoring was Love with 12 points.
“Our girls played a hard game tonight even though the score may not reflect that. They came into this game knowing it was going to be a battle and they fought hard,” McDonald added. “Unfortunately, Lumberton was able to pull away towards the end.”
Follow sports reporter Jonathan Bym on Twitter @Jonathan_Bym.