Lee County is 0-5 against Richmond since February of 2022 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Lee County Yellow Jackets will be playing at home against the Richmond Raiders at 7:30 p.m. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Lee County has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Richmond will arrive with ten straight wins.
Lee County managed to keep up with Pinecrest until halftime on Tuesday, but things quickly went downhill from there. Lee County was outmatched by Pinecrest at home and fell 79-52. While losing is never fun, Lee County can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 425th, while Pinecrest is ranked 180th).
Despite their loss, Lee County saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Jayden Hill, who scored 11 points along with two steals, was perhaps the best of all. Hill is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Ronnie Hooker, who scored 14 points along with six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Richmond can now show off ten landslide victories after their most recent match on Tuesday. They took their contest at home with ease, bagging a 102-64 victory over Union Pines. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Paul McNeil Jr. continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 36 points along with eight assists and six rebounds. He hasn't dropped below 23 points for four straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Jamarion Wall, who scored 19 points along with six rebounds and six steals.
Lee County has traveled a rocky road recently having lost seven of their last eight matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-14 record this season. As for Richmond, their win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-5.
Lee County was taken down by Richmond 118-52 in their previous meeting back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of McNeil Jr., who shot 10-for-26 from deep and dropped a double-double on 71 points and 14 rebounds. Now that Lee County knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
