Tuesday was Senior Night for Richmond Hill High School basketball and the girls’ basketball team had four athletes recognized: MaKiyah Matthews, Lexanna Oge, Brelyiah Dunham and Mylaijah Lee.

In a battle of the Lady Wildcats–in which the Richmond Hill Lady Wildcats played against the Camden County Lady Wildcats—the visitors would prevail, with a final score of 44-36 for Camden.

“We did not do a good job of taking care of the ball in this game,” head coach Sarah Jones said. “We just had too many turnovers and mistakes throughout the game, and that is what cost us.”

The Camden Lady Wildcats would jump out to a quick 4-0 lead on Richmond Hill, before Mmekom Inyang would sink a free throw to end the run, followed by another quick basket from Camden. Camden would outscore Richmond Hill in the first 14-7.

The second period would prove to be much more in Richmond Hill’s favor, as the Lady Wildcats played much better on both ends of the floor, outshooting Camden 11-6 in the period, to head into the break, only trailing 20-18. 

The third period proved more of a win for Camden, as a new flame seemed to have been lit during the break, from the staff, to the players, and even the cheerleaders. The entire Camden side of the court came alive as they dominated the third period.

“We just did not do a good job of finishing underneath the basket,” Jones said. We had far too many breakdowns on defense and we let them get way too many layups and they pulled ahead.”

The fourth period would prove much of the same. However, Richmond Hill never backed off and continued to fight the rest of the way and were able to keep the game close in the loss. 

“When we slowed down on offense, things came together for us,” Jones said “We installed some new plays and they seemed to work, but when we went too fast, things started to fall apart.”

Late in the fourth with 8.1 seconds left to go, the game came to a halt as an incident on the floor resulted in both teams rushing the court, as well as some punches being thrown. The referees made the determination to end the game at that time. 

The Richmond Hill Lady Wildcats (15-8) will travel to Valdosta to take on the Lowndes Vikettes (15-3) on February 2, as they look to redeem the home loss. Tip-off is set for 6pm.