Richmond wallops Northern Guilford in home return of Paul McNeil Jr
Paul McNeil Jr. was all smiles in warm-ups and he relished his name being called in the starting lineup.
"I was just taking in the moment in just being back," McNeil Jr said. "I love it here man, this is home, this is where my heart is. It just felt good walking into this gym and playing in front of this crowd of fans and family."
The star junior who was last year's Gatorade state player of the year was back at home and the Richmond Raiders were glad to have him on Tuesday night as they rolled to a 91-53 win over visiting Northern Guilford.
Over the summer, McNeil Jr. announced he was going to play this season at Prolific Prep, a non-scholastic team in California. He began his junior year out there, but re-enrolled and moved back home last week.
His first game with the team was a Saturday win over Trinity Christian, a neutral court game at Fayetteville State University.
Tuesday was his first time in front of the home fans, and he did a little bit of everything in a classic Paul McNeil Jr. way. The Raiders roared out to a 19-0 lead, scored 35 points in the first period, led 54-26 at half, and started a mercy-rule rolling clock with 4:48 left in the third quarter.
McNeil Jr. had 25 points, but he didn't have to shoulder the offensive production and only had seven of his team's 54 first-half points. Every Raider scored on the night.
Jullien Cole, who played last season at conference foe Pinecrest, had 21 points — all in the first half — and was a spark plug in the first half. He ended the game with a third of his team's 15 3-pointers.
The Raiders were a blistering 15-of-25 from 3 and 33-of-49 from the field.
Northern Guilford (1-1) was led in scoring by Ben Mulry, who had 12 points
Score by Quarter
END 1Q — Richmond leads 35-13 (RIC 35-13 in the quarter)
HALFTIME — Richmond leads 54-26 (RIC 19-13)
END 3Q — Richmond leads 77-36 (RIC 22-10)
FINAL — Richmond wins 91-53 (NG 17-14)
Team Scoring
Northern Guilford
- Ben Mulry, 12
- Cam Milton, 11
- Jordan Williams, 8
- Chris Mitchell, 7
- Michael Jurgens, 5
- Avery Hall, 3
- Christian Davis, 3
- Andrew Benincasa, 3
- Kevin McField, 3
Richmond
- Paul McNeil Jr., 25
- Jullien Cole, 21
- Jayden Hamilton, 7
- J.V. Drake, 7
- Zion Baldwin, 6
- Dylan Lampley, 6
- David McNair, 6
- Dakota Chavis, 5
- Raymond Knotts, 5
- Toby McInnis, 3
