Spartans Score 38 in Third Quarter to Take Down Cornerstone Christian Academy 93-52

Canton, OH- Richmond Heights head coach Quentin Rogers seemed a lot more satisfied with the attention to detail on defense displayed by his players Tuesday night against Cornerstone Christian Academy (CCA). 

"I thought we played extremely well in the first quarter then slowed down a little bit in the second, but we picked it up in the second half," Rogers said postgame. 

The Division IV title favorite Spartans led by juniors Hosea Steele Jr, Jeremy Wilson and Dorian Jones as well as sharpshooting sophomore Demarris Winters Jr. proved to be a lot to handle in the first quarter for CCA. 

The Spartans game plan to double-team and smother the underrated Patriots backcourt of sophomores Quinn "Turtle" Kwasniak and Carter Armstrong worked extremely well. Both were limited to 2 points each (4 total) in the quarter. Wilson and Steele each scored 6 points for Richmond to put them ahead 22-8 after the first. 

The Spartans found themselves in a similar situation as they were in last week against Mogadore. After a strong start to the game by Richmond, Coach Kwas's team cultured around strong faith stormed back. 

The Patriots started the second on a 10-4 behind the strong scoring of the Kwasniak/Armstrong duo, but senior big man DJ Niles added four points to keep CCA alive, including a clutch floater with 2.9 seconds left. Winters scored 8 of the teams 15 points to keep Richmond ahead 37-31 at half. The Patriots outscored the Spartans 23-15 in the quarter. 

Richmond Heights looked like a completely different team in the second half after a strong motivational talk from Coach Rogers at halftime. 

"Coach got on us at halftime," Wilson said postgame. "We had to come out in the second half and lock in to the win this game."

Wilson and Dorian Jones each opened the second half with a triple to start the strong scoring quarter by the Spartans. Wilson scored 14 of his team-high 26 points in the third quarter. The Spartans would forced double digit turnovers in the quarter, also outscoring CCA 38-12 in the third to essentially put the game out of reach. 

Winters finished behind Wilson with 22 points. Jones and Steele each chipped in with 20 and 15 points to help secure the win. 

Quinn Kwasniak finished with a team-high 20 points, while Armstrong added 16. 

Cornerstone's season is finished with a record of 22-5. For Coach Babe Kwasniak, this was his first loss at Canton Memorial Fieldhouse, dating back to his coaching days at Villa Angela-St. Joe's where he went 5-0 in regionals and won multiple state championships. 

"This is on me. I thought they would come out and run jump on us, but their length was a problem for us the entire game." Kwasniak said postgame. 

Richmond Heights moves to to the regional finals against the Dalton Bulldogs with a chance to go back to Dayton for the third consecutive year.