Richmond Hill’s girls and boys basketball teams concluded regular season play Tuesday night by dropping contests to state-ranked Brunswick teams.
The girls (14-9) rallied late to give the Pirates (223) a scare in a 45-44 loss while the struggling boys team (6-18) could not sustain early momentum and wound suffering its eighth straight loss, 71-50. Brunswick’s girls are ranked No. 5 in the state by the AJC and the boys (20-5) are No. 10.
The two Wildcats teams will now turn their attention to play-in games in order to qualify for the Region 1-7A region tournament. The boys will play at 6 p.m. Friday at Colquitt County (3-17) while the girls will host Camden County (6-19) at 6 p.m. next Monday.
The play-in is necessitated by the fact there are only five teams in the region. A win will also assure them of a spot in the Class 7A state playoffs.
Richmond Hill trailed 33-18 at the half and then turned in one of its best defensive efforts of the season in the second half as it limited the high-scoring Pirates—they’re averaging 63.7 points per game—to only 12 points in the second half but could never get the lead as Brunswick picked up its 17th straight win.
“It was a really hard fight,” Coach Sarah Jones said. “We had a few opportunities at the end to take the lead but just couldn’t convert.
“They are a really good team and we went in a little short-handed as we only had eight players that could play,” Jones said. “But the fight they showed until the buzzer was great.
“It’s definitely encouraging going into Monday night’s game as we showed we can compete with anyone. Everyone really stepped up and fought and played really hard which is what you really ask for and to give yourself a chance.”
May Inyang scored 16 points to lead the Wildcats including a basket at the five-minute mark to cut the score to 41-39. The Pirates then scored four straight points before Inyang scored back-to-back baskets and made one of two free throws to set the final margin.
Brionna Sutton added eight points and Jada Brown six while Jones also cited Imani Jackson and Arianna Canady for giving the Wildcats valuable minutes off the bench.
Richmond Hill will now be tasked with beating Camden County, which failed to win a region game, for the third time this season. Richmond Hill won at home, 38-29, and at Camden, 39-28.
Coach Bill Henderson’s team, made up of one senior, five juniors and eight sophomores, has played well in spurts this season only to go off the rails for extended periods.
That was the case against the Pirates who they played to a standstill in the early going only to see it all fall apart.
Richmond Hill led 15-14 at the end of the first quarter and was up 17-16 following Anthony Bynum’s basket in the opening minute of the second. Brunswick then went on a 7-0 run and from that point on the Wildcats were relegated to playing catchup. The Pirates led 33-22 at the half and then pushed the lead to 46-27 late in the third quarter and coasted home from there.
Bryce Hendricks scored 13 points to lead the Wildcats, and Ahkee Mack added nine. Bynum, who leads the team in scoring at 12.3 per game, did not score again following his basket at the beginning of the second quarter.
Julian Jackson, the team’s lone senior, scored seven fourth quarter points in his final home game.
Richmond Hill split its two regular season games with the Packers, winning 46-29 at home and by 11 points, 57-46, at Colquitt.