RICHMOND BASKETBALL UPDATE

RICHMOND BASKETBALL UPDATE

TROY DERENGOWSKI, RICHMOND SPORTS

I have attended several Richmond boys basketball practices so far this season and one thing is for sure, this Richmond team will be fun to watch…again.  Yes they will miss Bola Olaniyan and his double-double every night,  Quentin Hunter and his steady play and his 16 points per game and the three point shooting of Tanner Todd.  However this year’s team will have a good core of returning players and some very good young talent from a JV team that excelled last season.

Joe Luce calls Joel Okafor and Davious Webster the best two sophomore guards in the state.  Okafor has had a busy summer being courted by many Division One schools including Michigan State and Tom Izzo.  Okafor helped lead his AAU team to the National Finals this summer and will be the key returning player for the Red Devils.  Webster is already being looked at by many Mid-Major schools and his upside is tremendous .  Both will take up the scoring load lost by the graduation of Hunter and Olaniyan.

RHS SOPHOMORE GUARD JOEL OKAFOR

The Red Devils will have several seniors including Guard Nathan Jones, Guard Kendall Baker, Forward Kristian Rodriguez,  Forward Jai Wright and Guard Jacob Hampton.   Richmond will count on Juniors Forward Abdual Shabazz, Guard Kendall Baker and Guard Michael Tillman, all who had success on the junior varsity.  Freshman Forward  Reggie Jones has been hampered by injuries so far but has great talent.  Richmond will scrimmage Thursday night against Rushville.

By the way, Hunter played six minutes and score one point in the Greyhounds win over Franklin.

The Richmond girls hammered Centerville and Union County over the weekend.  Richmond struggled early against the Bulldogs before playing full court, pressing basketball.   Richmond will score a ton of points off of steals and transition offense.  That was evident Saturday when the Red Devils forced 44 turnovers and scored 89 points in the win over the Patriots.   Richmond was about as good of a shooting team in the first half as I have seen in a while.  They led 62-19 at halftime after hitting five three pointers in the first quarter alone.  They finished with 14!   Mackenzie Taylor finished with 33 points, Brooklyn Taylor with 21.  Richmond will return to action November 21^st against Northeastern.

 RHS SOPHOMORE GUARD MACKENZIE TAYLOR..33 VS UNION COUNTY

RHS SENIOR FORWARD BROOKLYN TAYLOR 21 VS UNION COUNTY