Richmond Heights running the gauntlet this season, uses lessons learned to defeat St. Vincent-St. Mary

Richmond Heights has played one of the toughest schedules in Ohio as the Spartans look for third straight state title

AKRON, Ohio – If you are a boys basketball team in Division IV of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, you might want to cover your eyes or maybe even skip the next sentence altogether.

Richmond Heights just might be more tournament ready this season than ever before.

Forget the perfect season and state title a year ago.

Forget the 25-4 season that finished with 20 straight wins and the first state championship in program history in the 2021-22 season.

Forget the state semifinal appearances in 2019 and 2021, or the COVID-19 shortened season of 2020 when the Spartans were still in the tournament at the time it was cancelled.

Forget the record this season, which is now 8-6 after a 69-65 road win over St Vincent-St. Mary on Friday night.

The 2023-24 version of Richmond Heights is more battled tested than the last five iterations of the Spartans, which is what head coach Quentin Rogers wanted.

"We have only had one home game this year," Rogers said. "I like how the schedule has played out for them and getting their skin tough, and it is helping them play through these tough moments."

The tough moment Rogers was referencing Friday night was the 14-point deficit the Spartans had put themselves in during the game at STVM, where they trailed 50-36 with 2:36 remaining in the third quarter before finishing the game on a 31-15 run, capped by a 3-pointer from senior guard Braylen Salters with 22.4 seconds remaining to give Richmond Heights a 67-65 lead.

But there have been plenty of tough moments for Richmond Heights, as evidenced by already having more losses this season than the Spartans have suffered in the last two seasons combined. 

One of the reasons Richmond Heights doesn’t have the same record as last season – or the season before – is that the Spartans left the Chagrin Valley Conference following last season. In 10 games in the CVC last year, Richmond Heights was 10-0 with an average margin of victory of 44.6 and the closest margin was 34 points in a win over Beachwood. Three of the 10 games had a margin of 50 or more.

"Credit to the CVC, they are always forward thinking," Rogers said. "Actually, they were the ones who basically said what do you guys think about (leaving the conference) with the team you have. They didn't want to handcuff us. Respect to the CVC, they have great coaches and great teams."

By getting out of the CVC, Richmond Heights has been able to beef up its schedule this season and they have done so by playing the toughest schedule to date in the state of Ohio, according to MartinRPI.com.

Toughest strength of schedules in each division through yesterday's games! pic.twitter.com/YboFGbh4Pd

— Martin RPI (@MartinRPI) January 24, 2024

Not only has Richmond Heights, ranked No. 15 in the latest SBLive Ohio boys basketball Power 25, played three of the top six teams in the SBLive Ohio Power 25 with a win over No. 2 St. Ignatius and losses to No. 5 Lutheran East and No. 6 Garfield Heights, but the Spartans have played two of the top three teams in the SBLive Florida Power 25 with a loss to No. 3 IMG Academy and a win over No. 6 Westminster Academy and they also own a win over Thornton, who is No. 3 in the latest Illinois Power 25.

The Spartans still have games remaining with Buchtel, St. Edward, Maumee Valley Country Day, Huntington Prep (West Virginia) and Maple Heights.

When the regular season is over, Richmond Heights will have played 11 games against teams from Ohio. Of those 11, eight games are against teams in Division I. Of the three non-Division I games, one is against defending Division II state champion Buchtel and another was against the defending Division III state champion in Lutheran East.

The only game against a Division IV opponent is the one against Maumee Valley Country Day.

This is a far cry from games in the CVC, where six would be against Division II opponents and four against Division III foes.

“We just took full advantage of being non-conference," Rogers said. "If it was up to me, I would play 22 road games."

After going undefeated last season and entering this year on a 49-game winning streak, Rogers isn’t worried that bumps in the road would bother the Spartans.

"Adversity always builds character, so that's what we want," Rogers said. "We don't run from it. We know we're going to get everybody's best game. I mean, we're a known team now, so that's what we are expecting."

Richmond Heights head coach Quentin Rogers talks to his team during the fourth quarter of a win over St. Vincent-St. Mary on January 26, 2024 / Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports

What Rogers wasn't expecting was the number of injuries his team would have to deal with this season, which has made it difficult to get continuity on a game-to-game basis. But playing tough games without his full roster has actually been a positive, as it has allowed other players to get a chance to play key roles. 

"We still haven't had a game with a full roster yet but we have had other guys step up," Rogers said. "So like tonight, Braylen hit that three. He's normally like a sixth or seventh man and coming off the bench but he started today. So it has given these guys real quality minutes against extremely high level competition."

The games earlier this season also served as teaching moments for the Spartans, and helped them in Friday night's win.

"No disrespect to some of those teams, but some of those games we kind of gave away and a lot of that was pressure or trying to do too much instead of just playing the game," Rogers said. "(Tonight) I think you saw them relax and just start playing the game. They have already been through a lot and back."

Despite the 8-6 record, the strength of schedule has been enough to keep the Spartans at the top of the SBLive Ohio computer rankings in Division IV. Asked about his mindset when putting together the schedule, the head coach gives a little smile.

“Obviously I put it together thinking I was going to be 100% healthy,” Rogers joked.

Then the head coach returns to being serious and even offers a glimpse at next season.

“At the end of the day, it does toughen you up,” Rogers said. “If you want to be one of the better teams, this is what you have to do. To be honest with you, we were invited to a lot of stuff. And we've been invited to a lot of stuff coming up next year. So the schedule next year might mirror what you see this year.”

His players are embracing the challenge of playing one of the most grueling schedules in Ohio as well.

"It is a tough schedule," Richmond Heights senior Hosea Steele, Jr. said. "But with us and who we have and how we work hard, it is really showing we can really take on those type of teams."

And if you think a few losses is going to bring down the vibe around the team and derail their mission for a third straight state championship, think again.

"I don't think when we lost, anyone was broken or anything like that," Rogers said. "These kids still come to practice every day with energy like you would think they were still undefeated. And that's the good thing about it." 

-- Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveoh