With less than a minute left in the final quarter, it appeared Richmond would pull off a comeback win against Excelsior Springs and win a district title in girls basketball.

But then, with 34.2 seconds remaining, Excelsior Springs junior Bella Loeffert put a dagger into Richmond’s heart.

With 18.7 seconds remaining, Loeffert put in another dagger.

With 5 seconds remaining, Excelsior Springs junior Josie Casler put in yet another dagger.

When the final buzzer sounded, Excelsior Springs coach JD Biermann and his Tigers celebrated a 48-45 victory and a Class 4 District 15 championship – the program’s first district title since 2007.

For Richmond (9-15), the March 8 defeat at Excelsior Springs capped a season in which the Spartans made significant strides, according to guard Adilyn Swope.

“We started off not doing so great,” said Swope, a first-year high schooler. “And I think that we really worked hard and we picked it up a lot throughout the season.”

It didn’t help that the Spartans had only si…