by Canton, OH – This year in Ohio High School Boys Basketball, perhaps there’s no better team in any division than Richmond Heights. Despite losing Josiah Harris to graduation, who now plays for Bob Huggins at West Virginia University, the defending Division 4 State Champions entered Friday Night’s Regional Championship game vs Dalton undefeated & dating back to last season on a 46 season game winning streak.
Make that 47 in a row.
Despite a tremendous effort by everyone on Dalton’s team & coaching staff, the Spartan’s size, speed & athleticism was simply too much to overcome over the span of the 32 minutes of gametime as Richmond Heights won their fourth consecutive regional championship 81-48 over Dalton at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse on Friday Night.
Dalton, not Richmond Heights, took the early lead. Brady Hignight scored the game’s first points on a layup & Braylon Wenger hit a 3 pointer to give the Bulldogs an early 5-0 lead as the fans from the small town in Wayne County made lots of noise early. But the Spartans came back strong. De’Erick Barber & Jermey Wilson knifed through the Dalton defense to get on the board, then Hosea Steele Jr had a breakaway 2 handed jam to give Richmond Heights a 6-5 lead as the Spartans never trailed from that point on. Wilson led Richmond Heights with 10 first quarter points as the Spartans took a 24-12 lead after the first quarter.
In the early stages of the second quarter the Spartans went on an early 7-0 run to extend the lead. Barber & DeMarris Winter Jr hit short range jumpers & Michael McWilliams hit from 3 point range as the Spartans extended the lead to 31-12. But Dalton came back with a 7-0 run of their own. Wenger was sent to the free throw line several times & went 5-7 while Jack Steiner hit a layup as the Bulldogs pulled to within 31-19 with just under 4 minutes left in the first half.
Later with time winding down in the first half with the Spartans up 37-23, Braylen Salters took a long cross court pass & appeared to go in for the slam dunk. But Wenger hustled back to stuff the dunk & created one last scoring opportunity for his team. Wenger wound up taking the final shot of the first half when he attempted a 3 point shot from the right wing. The shot missed, but the message was sent by Dalton that they were not going to go away quietly as the Spartans took a 37-23 halftime lead.
In the third quarter Richmond Heights outscored Dalton 21-8 to essentially put the game away. Wilson & Steele Jr found space inside with layups & dunks while Winters Jr & McWilliams found range from beyond the 3 point arc as the Spartans led 58-31 after 3 quarters to play. Richmond Heights continued to pour it on as the Spartans continued to play their starters well into the fourth quarter. After McWilliams hit a 3 pointer with 2:12 remaining in regulation to make it 74-44 did the Spartans coaching finally take out the starters. Shortly afterwards Dalton did the same.
After the game Richmond Heights Head Coach Quentin Rogers commented that he liked the energy his team displayed in Canton. ” I thought defensively we did a good job moving around, being really active, I thought our energy was down during districts. I felt we did a really good job during regionals with our energy & effort.” Rogers also praised Dalton with the way they played. ” I’m familiar with (Braylon) Wenger & his family. I know he can play & they have other guys on that team.
They’re here to win just like we’re here to win so there’s no surprises. We just wanted to make sure we executed everything on our end to get the win.” Finally, Rogers commented that even though they’re still undefeated there’s still more work to be done. ” We need to execute a little bit better on offense & our readings with the ball need to be a little better, but that’s something we’ll go over with them.”
The Richmond Heights Spartans are now 27-0 on the season & are Regional Champions for the fourth consecutive year. The Spartans advance to the State Semifinals to take on Russia (which is pronounced Rue-she) next Friday at 8:30 PM at the University of Dayton Arena. Jermey Wilson led Richmond Heights with 21 points while DeMarris Winters Jr & Hosea Steele Jr each chipped in with 17 points.
The Dalton Bulldogs ended their season at 17-9. Braylon Wenger led Dalton with 25 points.
