With injured Josiah Harris cheering from the sideline, Richmond Heights cruises to its first state championship

The Spartans stick with their game plan — suffocating defense — to weather the absence of their star and beat Tri-Village 50-29.

Author:
Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports
Publish date:
Mar 20, 2022 8:26 PM EDT

By Ryan Isley | Photos by Ben Jackson

DAYTON, Ohio — After coming close the previous three years, Richmond Heights is finally taking home the big trophy.

The Spartans defeated New Madison Tri-Village 50-29 on Sunday to capture the OHSAA Division IV state championship for the first time in program history.

“Our group, we are a family — for real. We love each other,” Richmond Heights senior Jaiden Cox-Holloway said. “I didn’t just want to win it for me, I wanted to win it for everybody because that was everybody’s first ring.”

The path to the first state title didn’t come without a roadblock, however.

The family had to take on their final opponent without its star player, West Virginia commit Josiah Harris, who missed the game with a sprained knee suffered in the Spartans' 59-21 state semifinal win Saturday over Berlin Hiland.

Without its leading scorer, Richmond Heights relied on multiple players to pick up the scoring in the championship game.

Cox-Holloway led the Spartans with 18 points, including seven of the team’s nine points in the first quarter. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Spartans stretch the lead and put the game away.

“I didn’t really feel any pressure because like Coach says, we don’t build our team around one player,” Cox-Holloway said. “We always know anything can happen. It was my turn this time. That’s all that happened.”

Detric Hearst Jr. stepped in as the starter for Harris and filled the shoes of the Northeast Lakes District Division IV player of the year admirably.

The senior was second on the team with 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

“He is versatile. We can play him all over the floor,” Richmond Heights coach Quentin Rogers said. “Today he mixed it up with his body and his size. I am quite sure he was mentally locked in and ready for the role."

For Richmond Heights, it wasn’t a new experience playing without its star.

Harris had missed five games earlier in the year with an ankle injury, including in the sectional round of the tournament, all five of those being Richmond Heights victories.

He returned in the district semifinal for limited minutes and then was full-go for the rest of the postseason until getting injured Saturday.

“They were used to playing without him, but obviously they wanted to play with him,” Rogers said. “We don’t build the team around one player. It’s a collective. He’s just a great player, so he is going to stand out more. Guys have stepped up throughout the season, so they were comfortable going into this game.”

Harris was on the bench with his teammates throughout the game and was the first player off the bench to celebrate every positive play.

He was also hyping up his teammates during pregame warmups. And despite the disappointment of not getting to play Sunday, he knew his teammates would come through.

“It was pretty hard, but I trust my brothers,” Harris said. “I know the work we put in day in and day out, so I have full trust in them, and all I could do was support them the best I could.”

While the Spartans might be known for their flashy offense and highlight-reel dunks, the defensive side of the ball is where they spend their time and thrive.

It showed on Sunday, as they held a team that averages 71 points per game to just 29 points.

“We are a defensive team first,” Rogers said. “We mainly concentrate on defense throughout the year. It’s on them at this point to be disciplined and stay focused on the game plan, which they did. They were locked in and believe wholeheartedly in their defense.”

Richmond Heights had made the state semifinals in 2019 and last season and was still alive in the tournament when COVID-19 ended the 2020 season prematurely.

That experience — and subsequent disappointment — helped the Spartans finally get over the mountain this season.

The Spartans played well defensively in the state semifinals last season before losing to Botkins 44-40.

One thing they didn’t do that day was take advantage of turnovers. In Sunday’s championship game, Richmond Heights turned 10 Tri-Village turnovers into 16 points.

“It has been a process,” Rogers said. “This year the biggest thing was we wanted to make people pay when we got stops and turnovers.”

The process turned into results this time, and the Spartans have the state championship trophy to prove it.