Louisville, OH- Louisville Head Coach Tom Siegfried stated postgame that competition brings out the best in athletes. Friday night at Louisville High School lived up to the billing, as Coach Quentin Rogers' Richmond Heights Top 5 ranked squad came to town. The Spartans, led by multiple D-1 Commits, have won 3 consecutive Division IV OHSAA State Championships.
The Leopards came out swinging, or swishing rather, as Senior Guard and Ashland commit Beau Siegfried deposited three triples in the frame to lead all scorers after the opening 8 minutes with 9. The hosts took a 19-15 advantage into the 2nd quarter.
It was Spartans Senior Joey Emory leading the charge in the 2nd quarter as Richmond Heights was able to grab their first lead of the evening on the back of a 7-0 run in the waning moments of the quarter to head to the break up 30-29.
Both teams came out of the half sluggish compared to how the rest of the night went, as the Leopards went scoreless for the first couple of minutes. They were able to crank it back up as the period progressed, scoring 18 in the quarter and retaking the lead 47-41 heading to the penultimate quarter.
In the 4th, it was Senior and Walsh University commit Brayden Gross scoring 8 of his team high 22, with 6 of those coming from the charity stripe to lead the Leopards to victory. Senior Tate Aljancic broke a 60-60 tie with just under 1:00 remaining on a triple from the wing (video above). Spartans Senior and UTEP commit DeErick Barber Jr. paced the visitors with 22 as well.
The Leopards (12-4) return to action Saturday evening, as they welcome the Alliance Aviators.
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