Richmond Heights Cruises By Cornerstone Christian For District Title

March 4, 2022

Norton, Ohio

 

OHSAA Boys Division 4 District Final

 

Cornerstone Christian            14        13        17        19   =   63

Richmond Heights                  27        12        25        19   =   83

 

Richmond Heights came out of the gate with all pistons firing on Friday evening. The Spartans forced 6 first quarter turnovers as they grabbed a 27-14 lead and were never seriously threatened en route to an 83-63 win over Cornerstone Christian.

 

Senior forward Josiah Harris led the early assault for Richmond Heights, getting 12 of his game-high 22 points in the first quarter. The Patriots tightened up their defense a bit in the second quarter, but 5 additional turnovers prevented them from trimming the scoring deficit.

 

Richmond Heights got rolling again after halftime and took their largest lead of the game at 57-34 on a traditional 3-point-play by freshman guard DeErick Barber with 3:03 left in the third. A fallaway putback by freshman guard Dorian Jones at the third quarter buzzer gave the Spartans a 64-44 advantage.

 

The fourth quarter had plenty of action, including a couple of rim-rattling dunks from Harris, but Richmond Heights maintained a comfortable lead until the finish.

 

Cornerstone Christian shot a respectable 46% from the field but were limited to only 46 shots by the stifling Spartan defense. Patriots’ freshman guard Carter Armstrong came off the bench to lead Cornerstone in scoring with 19. Three-point specialist Quinn Kwasniak, another freshman guard, was limited to just 2 of 10 shooting from behind the arc and finished with 17 points.

 

Richmond Heights advances to next week’s regional tournament at the Canton Fieldhouse.

 

Cornerstone Christian

Armstrong      6 – 7/9 – 19

Kwasniak, Q.   5 – 5/9 – 17

Niles                5 – 5/9 – 15

Kwasniak, B.    4 – 1/2 – 10

Sopenski         1 – 0/0 – 2

Merrill             0 – 0/0 – 0

Sage                0 – 0/0 – 0

 

Field Goals:  21/46, 46%         3-Point Shots:  3/14, 21%       Free Throws:  18/29, 62%

Rebounds:  31             Turnovers:  17             Fouled Out:  Niles, Sopenski

 

Richmond Heights

Harris              10 – 1/1 – 22

Jones               8 – 1/4 – 18

Maiden           5 – 4/8 – 14

Cox-Holloway 5 – 1/2 – 12

Barber             3 – 3/3 – 9

Hearst             2 – 1/2 – 5

Williams          1 – 0/0 – 2

Wynn              0 – 1/2 – 1

 

Field Goals:  34/66, 52%         3-Point Shots:  3/21, 14%       Free Throws: 12/22, 55%

Rebounds:  38             Turnovers:  8               Fouled Out:  Maiden

By: Don DiFrancesco               @MayorNEOPrep