In their third road trip in four games to open the season, the Richmond Hill High School Lady Wildcats’ basketball team traveled to Brunswick to take on the Lady Pirates.
Coming off of a win at home against Ware County, the Lady ‘Cats hoped to make it two in a row, and gain some momentum by adding another mark to the win column.
However, after making the one hour trip over to Brunswick High School, their hopes of knocking off the undefeated Lady Pirates fell short in a 60-49 loss. The loss also dropped the Lady ‘Cats back down to a .500 record on the year, as they sit at 2-2. Brunswick was able to continue their undefeated streak to 3-0, including two wins over Region 1-6A teams, despite being in a 5A league.
The Lady Pirates were able to get their win back against the Lady ‘Cats, and did so at their home court. The last time these two teams met, Richmond Hill was able to walk away with a 43-42 win at home.
The game opened up with both teams showing their fair share of how to score points, with both teams being able to put up 16 points in the opening period, taking advantage of each other’s opposing defenses.
In the second period, the Lady Pirates were able to begin to pull away offensively due to playing good defense and only allowing the Lady ‘Cats to score nine points. The Lady Pirates would again score 16 points in the period as their offense continued to pour it on. They would lead 32-25 at the break.
Coming out of the break, the Lady ‘Cats got the offense going again as they would score 14 points in the third, matching the Lady Pirates scoring output. Brunswick took a 46-39 lead into the fourth period.
In the final period of play, the Lady Pirates led in scoring again, with their 14 points. The Lady ‘Cats were unable to get ahead in the game, only scoring 10 in the fourth, and being held without a lead in the game at the end of any period.
“We tried to keep the game close by minimizing turnovers and slowing the game down but it got away from us when we let it get chaotic,” senior Zion Bernard said. "It is really hard to gain that momentum again especially against a really athletic team like Brunswick. We know now what we need to do, it is just about execution.”
Richmond Hill hopes to turn things around this Friday as they will get a chance to host at home for only the second time all year. The visiting Hilton Head Island Lady Seahawks will make the trip over to the Lady ‘Cats and their new court. Hilton Head has only played one game on the year, losing at home to St. Andrews. Tip off for the game will be at 6pm.
“Going on to our game on Friday, our focus still doesn’t change,” Bernard said. “Hilton Head Island may not be as skilled of a team but that still doesn’t change the goal of playing our game at our pace and executing our key goals.”