One of the last games of the night in the Cleveland Basketball Classic, we had Solon High School face off against Richmond Heights. With the previous three games being closely contested games, it seemed possible that this game would be no different. Richmond is the reigning Division IV State champion and were looking to get off to a strong 2022/23 season.
The tip was won by Richmond Heights, but they immediately throw it out of bounds on a risky pass to the corner. Dorian Jones takes the first shot for Richmond Heights, and makes a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer at the top of the key. With one and a half minutes down, the game was 7-0 in favor of Richmond Heights. Solon High School had a few turnovers to start the game, and seemed a bit off their game. Around halfway through the first, the score was 16-6, Richmond Heights.
In the first quarter Richmond Heights went to the foul line a lot and also hit a solid amount of 3-pointers. Jones also had an amazing block on defense, sending the ball out of bounds. Offensive rebounding was also a key part in the first quarter, as Richmond Heights had a lot of second chance points to start the game off. Cam Brown for Solon hit two 3-pointers to cut the lead to 18-12. Xavier Dose then hit another triple for Solon to make the score 18-15. A tremendous 9-0 run by Solon. At the end of the first quarter Solon held a 23-20 lead.
At the start of the second quarter, Solon scored on a layup giving themselves a 5 point lead. Richmond Heights came right back with a mid-range jumper in transition. Then of the best plays of the game took place as Dorian Jones hit an and-one euro step layup. Solon gets a steal, and then Cam Brown gets fouled in transition to give them two free throws but made only 1 of the 2. Richmond Heights was able tp draw a charge which lead them to go to the foul line on the next possession. Halfway through the second quarter the score was tied at 33. Avery Perryman almost made one of the best plays of the night, almost dunking on a Solon player trying to draw a charge. Jones got a transition alley-oop dunk on the other end on a pass from Jordan Dotson. A few plays later, Dotson got an open dunk but missed it. Jones gets another dunk in transition throwing down a one-handed dunk. At the end of the first half Richmond Heights leads Solon 44-37.
To start off the 3rd quarter, Solon gets a steal, and Rayquan Thompson finishes with a layup. They get a steal on the next possession, but turn it over. Cam Brown gets a put-back layup later in the quarter. Transition offense is key in this game for Richmond Heights as they converted a layup on another 2-on-1 fast break. Rayquan Walker gets a steal, and then passes to Jordan Chaitoff for an easy layup after the fast break.
In the 3rd quarter, Richmond Heights kept around a ten point lead for the most of it. Rayquan Thompson hit a layup to cut the lead within single digits, and then Richmond Heights turned the ball over. Solon couldn't capitalize and Richmond Heights’ possession ended up in a transition dunk by Dorian Jones. At the end of the third quarter the score is Richmond Heights lead 61-51.
Early on in the fourth, Jeremy Wilson got a dunk for Richmond Heights off of a full-court pass, giving them a twelve point lead. Rayquan Thompson then converted an and-one, but missed the free throw. However, he got a steal in the backcourt and scored an easy layup. Richmond Heights kept getting the ball in transition. Dorian Jones made a dunk in transition, a common thing in this game for Richmond Heights. Jones got an alley-oop dunk from an inbound pass, and then got another dunk in transition. The high scoring game ended with Richmond Heights on top 83-72 Jones had 19 points to end the game, and Rayquan Thompson had 23 points.
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