COURTLAND—Southampton Academy lost 73-66 to No. 4 state ranked Amelia Academy on Friday night.

“The Raiders played a great game from start to finish,” said Southampton Academy Coach David Gibbs. “The smaller Raider team used aggressive defense and a patient offensive attack to hang in with the Patriots.”

“Although it was a loss, the team learned where we need to focus and what it takes to be competitive day in and day out,” Gibbs added.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was knotted at 11, and the Raiders trailed 24-22 at the half. In the third quarter, both teams scored 19 each.

“In the fourth, the smaller Raider team found themselves in foul trouble,” Gibbs said.

SA was led offensively by sophomore Rashodd Maxey with 34 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Blake Drewry added 13 points, including four, 3-pointers, and sophomore Zach Best netted 7 points and grabbed 3 rebounds.

On defense, junior Matt Nixon, senior Michael Milteer, Drewry and Best controlled the perimeter game, while senior Storm Gray, Maxey, senior Garrett Smith, junior Thomas Taylor and senior Zach Ramsey did a terrific job of guarding their taller post players, Gibbs said.

“We knew going into the game that they were a great shooting team, so we made our adjustments, thus allowing us to be aggressive on the defensive end,” he said. “They have a great guard that posed a threat against us, but I thought we did a fantastic job of knowing where he was and having someone close by at all times.”