Richmond Hill High School picked up its third win of the 2012-13 basketball season Saturday night, beating South Effingham 42-28.

It was a bounce-back game for the program and first-year coach William Henderson, who saw his team handed a 48-20 loss at home the night before by Statesboro.

Henderson, a former RHHS guard, took the blame for the loss, saying “I should’ve done a better job of preparing the team for Statesboro’s pressure.”

He also praised his team’s effort so far this season.

“Even in the Statesboro game when we were down by 20, the guys never quit and were always playing hard,” he said. “That’s something I like to see.”

The Wildcats (3-2) were led in scoring by guard Jeremiah Hill, who had 10 points against the Blue Devils and 18 the next night in the win over the Mustangs.

“He’s doing a good job playing and scoring for us,” Henderson said. “We have some other guys who don’t get a lot of attention, but they’re playing well too.”

Among them are Terrance McCall, Caymen Cardiff, Nick Fitzgerald and Ian Chandler, who’ve provided a mix of rebounding, defense, physicality and effort as the Wildcats rebuild after losing several players off last year’s squad.

Henderson, who stresses defense and a controlled offense, gives his team a B for its first full week of the regular season.

He also said that while “there are a lot of little things” to being a head coach he is learning to deal with, former RHHS coach William Altman prepared him for the job.

“Overall there haven’t been too many surprises,” he said.

The Wildcats will find out Friday how they stack up against Region 3-AAAAA competition when they take on Groves. Tipoff is at 4 p.m.