HIGGINSVILLE – Richmond varsity girls basketball coach Kaylee Vantrump watched her Spartans fight through illness when they faced Oak Grove Dec. 10 in the Husker Classic third-place game in the Lafayette County C-1 east gym. She also watched them almost pull off a comeback win. Trailing 38-26 in the third quarter, Richmond staged a 15-4 run to make it a one-point ballgame early in the fourth quarter. After the Panthers had extended their lead to six (48-42), Richmond fought to keep it close. It was 52-50 Oak Grove when Panthers sophomore Kalena Duffett sank one of two free throws with 5.8 seconds left for the final point in Richmond’s nail-biting loss. The Spartans had two starters and a reserve player sidelined with illness and two girls who weren’t feeling well who played that afternoon, according to Vantrump. But illness didn’t cost the Spartans third place, she suggested. “Our biggest thing was just boxing out,” Vantrump said. “I mean, we’re a small team and we live off that…