Lakeside, Richmond split a pair

Time became a key element in Tuesday's girls basketball game between Lakeside High and Academy of Richmond County.

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The Lady Panthers won the game 35-33 in a nail-biter, advancing to 10-5 on the season, but it didn't come without a fight.

Alex Cassagnol led the Panthers team scoring with eight baskets.

The Lady Panthers were ahead 21-12 by halftime, but with 18 seconds left in the game, the Lady Musketeers inched their way back to within two of the Lady Panthers with a free throw from Brandy Washington. The team ran out of time after missing a long shot and lost the game.

The Lady Musketeers fell to10-7.

Lakeside coach Maureen McCormack said she wanted her team to play naturally and not focus solely on the score.

"We have a young team," McCormack said.

"Richmond was making a great comeback. We held on to the ball enough towards the end to really get the time to run out."

The battle turned physical during some moments. Richmond's Candace Ramsey left the game late in the third quarter after colliding with a Lakeside player.

"I thought both teams fought hard," said Harry Bufford, coach of the Lady Musketeers. "It was a great game."

The Lakeside boys basketball team couldn't stop Richmond Academy's scoring attack Tuesday night and lost the game 85-40.

"We try to be perfect," said Steve Nobles, coach of Richmond Academy's boys. "We know we are not going to be perfect, but if we work for perfection, we're going to be that much better."

Richmond Academy outscored the Panthers by at least 15 points in each quarter.

Corey Bynes led the Musketeers with 25 points.

"We played hard and we ran what we were supposed to run defensively," Nobles said. "Offensively, we were patient."

The Panthers fell to 8-7.

Richmond Academy improved to 10-6.

Richmond Academy and Lakeside will face each other again Jan. 25 at Richmond Academy.

The girls teams will play at 6:30 p.m. and the boys teams will play at 8:00 p.m.