Richmond Heights punches ticket to Division IV district final with 70-54 win vs. Rittman

NORTON, Ohio — Richmond Heights' size and athleticism was on full display for Rittman, its fans and even a potential opponent to see.

Curtis Houston controlled the tempo early, while B.J. Carter and Anthony Maxie sparked the defense to send top-seeded Richmond Heights to Friday's OHSAA Division IV boys basketball district title game in Norton. The Spartans topped Rittman on Monday in the semifinals, 70-54.

"We know where we want to get," said Houston, a 6-foot-3 senior point guard who scored 16 points with five assists. "Right now, we're just worried on game for game."

Coach Quentin Rogers took it a step further. He is just worrying about each quarter as they come.

"We're just staying disciplined and staying the course," Rogers said. "That's all."

Almost a micro-focus, Richmond Heights (18-6) has good reason for it.

A year ago, the Spartans did not even make it this far and lost to Warren JFK in the sectional finals. Rittman won this district and ran into a Michael Bothwell-led Cornerstone Christian at the regional level.

Rogers' squad is now one step closer to that stage at the Canton Fieldhouse.

First, they will have to get past Open Door or Columbia in the district final. Open Door players, who face Columbia on Tuesday, sat in the stands near midcourt with an up-close view of the Spartans' capabilities.

It started with the inside-out combination from Houston and junior Gbolahan Adio at the perimeter. In addition to Houston's performance, Adio added 15 points.

Early, Rittman withstood those guards' push. The Indians (14-11) held a 17-16 lead early in the second quarter but ultimately did not have an answer for Anthony Maxie inside.

A 6-5 junior who played last year at Benedictine, Maxie scored a team-high 17 points with a handful of dunks on putbacks and lob passes. More importantly, he blocked four shots.

"I'm just looking to energize the team," Maxie said.

His play led to Houston raising up for a one-handed slam from the baseline in the second quarter. Rittman still hung around through halftime, but the Spartans' defense turned up in the third quarter. So did their shooting, which pulled out Rittman's defense and allowed Maxie to feast inside.

"We raised up the energy up on defense a little bit and put more legs up under our shots," Rogers said.

Richmond Heights hit five straight 3s in the third quarter. They hit six total in that stretch, including two each from Houston, Adio and sophomore guard Jamar Talbert.

"It's a total team effort," Rogers said, "and it's going to be a different guy every time."

Connor Stuart led Rittman with a game-high 20 points, but Richmond Heights' lead grew in the third quarter with that bonanza of 3s and Maxie's dunks. The difference grew to 14 points by the quarter's end.

"We knew that eventually they would break," Houston said. "We're more athletic than them. We knew they weren't as conditioned as us, so we just kept going."

Maxie's blocks helped.

He had two of them in the third quarter.

"That gets us going," Houston said. "We like athletic plays like that. We like seeing blocks, dunks, all of that; that gets us hyped up."

Houston called throwing up a lob pass for Maxie the best part, added motivation to make sure this run does not end soon.

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