It had all the intensity of a state tournament game and that’s what, in effect, it was Monday night when Richmond Hill’s girls pulled out a dramatic 45-43 win over upset-minded Camden County in a Region 7A play-in game.
Junior guard MiKiyah Matthews scored with 3.2 seconds to play following a steal on an inbounds play to cap a 12-2 run over the final 97 seconds to earn the Wildcats (15-9) a spot in the region tournament and more importantly a berth in the state playoffs.
While the girls are moving on, the Richmond Hill boys (6-19) saw their season come to an end last Friday when they lost a play-in game at Colquitt County, 42-41, despite holding a 31-20 lead going into the fourth quarter.
After struggling for three quarters the Packers (4-17) scored 22 points in the final eight minutes against the Wildcats who had limited Colquitt to four points in the first and third quarters.
Consistency was an issue for the Wildcats all season and it reared its ugly head again against Colquitt as they committed 26 turnovers. Ahkee Mack led the Wildcats with 10 points while Bryce Hendricks and Braylon Hayes had eight.
Coach Sarah Jones’ team played at Valdosta (16-8) on Tuesday night and will play Thursday against either Lowndes (16-9) or Colquitt (14-10). Valdosta, led by McDonald’s All-America forward Essence Cody, an Alabama signee, is a heavy favorite to win the region.
Richmond Hill had beaten Camden (6-20) twice during the regular season but found itself in dire straits when it trailed 41-33 with 1:37 to play.
The defense, however, rose to the occasion as it created turnovers which the Wildcats converted into points.
“We really fought,” Jones said. “It would have been easy to roll over but we continued to make plays at the end. It was a rough night but we got stops and were able to convert.”
Brionna Sutton scored 11 points, five of them coming in the decisive fourth quarter, to lead the win. Matthews and Jada Brown had seven points each while Sapphira Mathews had six points, all of them coming in the fourth.
“Early on we gave up a bunch of second half points,” Brown said. “They were outhustling us. Offensively we were chaotic until the end when we had to make plays and we made them.”
The Wildcats led 25-23 at the half and the third quarter saw both teams plagued by turnovers and poor shot selection as Richmond Hill outscored Camden, 6-3.
Camden, which got an outstanding game from junior forward Taylor Rietvold who had 23 points and 14 rebounds, scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to forge a 33-31 lead.
After Sutton tied it when she drove the lane for an open layup the visitors went on an 8-0 run to take what looked to be an insurmountable 41-33 lead.
Matthews then made a free throw with 1:37 to play and Mathews followed with two free throws and a basket before Rietvold made a pair of free throws with 27 seconds to play for a 43-38 Camden lead.
Sutton then converted an and one before Mathews stole an inbounds pass and drilled a 10-footer to tie the score. Matthews then dashed any prospect of overtime when she made the Wildcats’ biggest defensive play of the season.