The Richmond Raiders will look to defend their home court on Thursday against the Pinecrest Patriots at 6:00 p.m. Richmond knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past 13 matchups -- so hopefully Pinecrest likes a good challenge.
Richmond stacked a 12th blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They claimed a resounding 104-66 victory over Scotland at home. Given Richmond's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 31st, while Scotland is ranked 359th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Richmond had a senior duo take command as Paul McNeil Jr. shot 5-for-11 from long range and almost dropped a double-double on 40 points and nine rebounds and JV Drake scored 26 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Drake has scored all season. David McNair was another key contributor, scoring 13 points.
Meanwhile, Pinecrest's and Scotland's game on Tuesday was close at halftime, but Pinecrest turned on the heat in the second half with 45 points. Pinecrest took their match at home with ease, bagging a 74-46 win over Scotland. That 28 point margin sets a new team best for Pinecrest this season.
Pinecrest's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Azir Gillespie led the charge by scoring 20 points along with three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Javion Saunders, who scored 23 points along with five rebounds.
Richmond is on a roll lately: they've won 14 of their last 16 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 19-5 record this season. As for Pinecrest, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-9.
Richmond strolled past Pinecrest in their previous meeting back in January by a score of 83-68. Will Richmond repeat their success, or does Pinecrest have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
