Richton HS basketball teams look to punch tickets to ‘big house’ in state tournament
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RHS Coach Otto Crawford is shown talking to his Lady Rebels during a break in the action last Friday in Brookhaven. The Lady Rebels defeated West Lincoln to advance to Friday’s quarter-final round of the MHSAA 2A State Tournament. Photo Courtesy of Cliff Furr – Brookhaven Daily Leader
From Staff Reports
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The Richton High School teams just keep on winning and find themselves just one win away from a trip to the MHSAA Class 2A Final Four as they enter this weekend’s action.
The Lady Rebels punched their ticket to the third round of the state tournament with a 57-54 win over West Lincoln last Friday in Brookhaven. Coach Otto Crawford’s boys’ team advanced to the third round by holding off Puckett at home on Saturday by a 39-38 margin. With the wins, the Rebels and Lady Rebels will now play Friday at Raymond High School with a chance to advance to the semifinals at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson next Wednesday. The RHS girls will face off with Newton at 4 p.m. Friday, while the Richton boys will face Bay Springs immediately afterward (around 5:30 p.m.).
Newton entered the tournament as the second seed from Region 5 and defeated Mize (46-20) and Pisgah (52-47) to improve to 22-6 overall heading into Friday’s game. On the boys’ side, Bay Springs entered the postseason as the top seed from Region 5 and are 25-5 heading into Friday after posting wins over Mize (69-18) and St. Andrew’s Episcopal (62-46).
“We are approaching it just like any other game,” Coach Crawford said. “However, we also understand what is at stake.”
RHS junior Nylah Robins is shown getting set to shoot a free throw in the Lady Rebels’ win over West Lincoln last Friday. Robins led her team in the win with 17 points, and also had nine rebounds. Photo Courtesy of Cliff Furr – Brookhaven Daily Leader
“For the most part we are confident in what we do and are excited to be among the Elite 8 still playing.”
Nylah Robins led the way for RHS in last Friday’s win over top-seeded West Lincoln. The junior just missed posting a double-double, finishing with 17 points and nine rebounds. Junior Rakhiya Moody did grab herself another double-double as she scored 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Freshman Caedence Amos-Smith had a nice game as well with 10 points and eight rebounds in the win.
While the girls’ game was tight, the boys was even tighter as the Rebels were unable to put the game out of reach with free throws in the final minute. Those missed opportunities gave Puckett one last chance for a game-winning shot, but their shot from beyond half court missed the mark. Seniors Christian Taylor and Dakota Amos led the way for the Rebels in the win. Taylor finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two deflections. Amos also scored 10, and pulled down six rebounds, had two steals and three deflections.
Junior Brandon Brown added seven points and seven rebounds, while his classmate Daylin Carter had seven points and five rebounds.
Fans going to Raymond to support the Rebels and Lady Rebels will face a $10 entry fee at the gate or can get their tickets in advance via the GoFan app. The address to Raymond High School gymnasium is 1405 MS Highway 18, Raymond, MS 39154.
Richton junior Rakhiya Moody is shown driving around a West Lincoln defender in last week’s playoff win by the Lady Rebels. Moody had a double-double game for RHS as she scored 17 points and pulled down 9 rebounds. Photo Courtesy of Cliff Furr – Brookhaven Daily Leader
