Feb. 11, 2025

For the third time this season, the Richmond Hill Lady Wildcats played in the ‘Battle of the Wildcats’ with the Valdosta High School Lady Wildcats, and secured a third-straight win against the visitors. 

Valdosta made the three hour trip to Richmond Hill in hopes of an upset, and winning the play-in game, which would have allowed them into the playoffs. However, Richmond Hill had other plans and sent Valdosta back on their journey with a loss as the home team won 46-35.

Although they were the favorite to win, it was not all Richmond Hill’s game. The first period was played tight, but they eventually settled in. Richmond Hill would win the opening tip once again, but did not immediately score. Jada Brown scored the first point of the game, going ahead 1-0 at 6:52, by way of a free throw. Valdosta quickly answered the bell, as they ran down the court and scored immediately. Cullen McCormick scored the first points for Richmond Hill with a three point shot. 

Jada Brown turned a blocked shot, subsequent rebound and perfectly timed pass into an assist to Mmekom Inyang, who scored a layup. Despite that, the period remained tight as both teams went back and forth scoring, and back and forth with some solid defensive play. The period would end at an 8-8 tie. 

In the second, Richmond Hill settled in and got back to their game. While several players contributed, the ‘Senior Sensations’ of Jada Brown and Inyang turned the game around, as they would head into the break with a 26-13 lead, coming off of a dominating 18-5 run in the period. 

“We just needed to settle in and execute the game plan,” head girls’ basketball coach Sarah Jones said. “We started getting better looks inside there and we want to live on the inside. We had to go back to what works for us.”

After halftime, it seemed as though Richmond Hill would run away with the game, but a full team sub from Valdosta halted that belief. The bench came in and played well, stopping Richmond Hill on several possessions and scoring multiple times to cut the lead down. 

“Sometimes when you are up like that, you let your foot off the gas,” Jones said. “They played really hard. Made great plays. Their coaches had them ready. It knocked us back a bit. When we got back to playing our game of being disciplined and executing the game our way, we got a handle back on the game.”

Late in the fourth period, Richmond Hill began to bring in their own bench, before making a full substitution with 45 seconds left in the game to develop some of the younger Lady Wildcats for the future. 

Richmond Hill will travel to Camden County High School on Wednesday, February 12th to take on Lowndes for the third meeting in a week’s time. This game will determine seeding for the playoffs and the winner will advance to the region championship on Friday in Camden County. 

“We need to put together a complete game on Wednesday,” Jones said. “It’s the third time seeing them in a week. We have the game plan and we have to execute it. We were up and down today. We have to get in here tomorrow and settle in at practice. We are guaranteed three more games in total, including this region tournament. Everything matters now.”

Zane Rowland is a sports correspondent with the Bryan County News.