RICHMOND — The Richmond Bobcats needed a win. With three games left and the Bobcats looking to stay in the playoff picture, Richmond survived a late rally to knock off a Wiscasset Wolverines team set on playing the role of spoiler.
Richmond led the Mountain Valley Conference matchup 18-1 after the first quarter, but the Wolverines wouldn’t go away, eventually falling to the Bobcats, 45-36.
“I think we came out ready to play,” said Richmond coach Phil Houdlette. “We put a lot of pressure on them and pushed the basketball and got some easy looks.”
“We had to start some different guys for different reasons tonight, but that’s no excuse to have a slow start and come out flat like that,” said Wiscasset coach Jamie Jones. “Defensively I don’t ever want to give up 18 points in a quarter.”
Richmond pushed the pace and pressured the Wolverines early, forcing Wiscasset into four early turnovers within the first three minutes of the game.
Mason Blake paced the Bobcats on a 15-0 run to start the game. Blake had six of his 11 points in the opening quarter. Joshua Gabriele ended the Richmond run as he was fouled on a jumper from the top of the paint.
After Gabriele got the Wolverines on the board, Richmond’s Calob Densmore responded with a trey from the corner before the end of the quarter.
“We’ve had some big quarters that we’ve given up throughout the year and its killed us,” said Jones. “A faster start and it could’ve been a different ball game, but I appreciate the effort that they gave out there for the other three quarters.”
Haiden Dunning registered the first points from the field for Wiscasset on a layup two minutes into the second. Wiscasset frustrated the Richmond half court offense in the second quarter, forcing the Bobcats into missing their first six shot attempts. Densmore ended the streak with another 3-pointer. After a Gabriele score, Christian Loyola picked off a pass to give the Wolverines a quick four points and stay even with the Bobcats, 8-8, in the second.
Wiscasset still trailed 26-9 at the break.
“Credit to Wiscasset. They played really hard,” said Houdlette. “I wouldn’t press any longer than I pressed when it was 18-1, that’s enough. Can you press a team that’s inexperienced and then run a half court set? I guess we proved we’re not much of a half-court team, but it is what it is. It’s a win and I’ll take it.”
Dunning knocked down a trey to start the second half for the Wolverines, but Richmond started the third quarter hot. Richmond shot 6-for-8 from the field to maintain the big lead. Kenny Bing knocked down three of those shots, capping it off with a 3-pointer to put Richmond up, 37-17.
Dunning and Matthew Chapman combined for 14 points in the quarter for Wiscasset to cut into lead as Richmond led 43-27 after three quarters.
Gabriele scored a quick four points to start the fourth quarter as the Bobcats went cold again. The guard cut through the Richmond defense and prompted a timeout from Houdlette with 4:03 remaining. The Bobcats buckled down out of the timeout and took the 45-36 win despite Blake scoring the only points of the quarter with two foul shots.
“We’re inexperienced,” said Houdlette. “You’ll go through peaks and valleys and when you only have five wins on the season this is a tough conference. They make you play every night.”
Richmond improved to 5-11 and face a tough matchup at home with 13-1 Hall-Dale Saturday. Densmore led the way for Richmond with 14 points while Bing added 13.
Wiscasset fell to 1-14. The Wolverines face Monmouth on the road on Thursday.
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