KANSAS CITY – After Richmond’s 76-47 season-ending loss to St. Pius X of Kansas City March 7, coach Brent Behler, and guards Nolan Quick and Dryden Hendrix agreed on something: The Spartans should’ve played in a nailbiter beforehand.

The Spartans faced St. Pius for the Class 4 District 15 Tournament title. They helped secure the meeting with the Warriors, who hosted the singleelimination tournament, by trouncing Kansas City Northeast 72-34 March 5 in the district semis.

“You always want that tight game right before,” Behler said. “That can really catapult you into that championship game.”

Trouncing the Vikings didn’t help the Spartans because Northeast didn’t test Richmond’s skills, suggested Quick, a junior.

“No offense to them, but they weren’t very fundamentally good at basketball, so it was just a blowout for us,” he said March 8.

By contrast, St. Pius reached the title game after holding off Kansas City Central 52-49 March 5. The thriller gave the Warriors “a lot of momentum coming into this game,” Behler said.

St. Pius coach Christian Phelps agreed the nail-biter helped prepare the Warriors for Richmond. But that wasn’t the only ballgame that got them ready, he said.

“I think what really prepared us the most was just how we played throughout the whole, entire year,” Phelps said.

Throughout that year, the Warriors repeatedly faced opponents in larger classes. Their regular-season schedule included Pembroke Hill and Summit Christian Academy, both Class 5 programs; and Rockhurst, a Class 6 program. Like St. Pius, all three won district titles this season. Pembroke Hill, a Kansas City-based school, won the Class 5 District 8 title. Summit Christian, a Lee’s Summit-based school and a regular-season opponent of Richmond’s, won the Class 5 District 7 crown and faced Pembroke Hill Tuesday in sectionals. Rockhurst won the Class 6 District 6 championship.

“Those games, you have to play so much faster,” Phelps said. “Richmond is a very talented team and I’m not taking anything away from them. For one year, what he has done is just amazing. But, yeah, I think just being in the city and just being in proximity to all these teams, it helps us. We’ve got the ability to do that without driving long distances.”

The Warriors had some other factors in their favor, according to Phelps. One of them was playing on their home floor.

“We’re blessed with such good fans and good families,” he said.

The Spartans led once before the tested Warriors took control in their home gym, as Hendrix sank a three-pointer with 7 minutes, 8 seconds left in the first quarter. St. Pius erased Richmond’s 3-0 lead with an 8-0 spurt and went on to lead 14-11 after one quarter.

Richmond kept it close early in the second quarter, too. Hendrix’s two-point bucket made it a one-point ballgame with 7:56 remaining. After a two-point bucket by junior Brady Stacy had made it 16-13 Warriors with 7:46 left, Cale Moyer sank a three-pointer to knot it at 16 with 7:30 remaining.

And then, St. Pius started to take over.

Sparked by a 15-3 run, the Warriors led 31-23 at halftime. Quick scored back-toback buckets during the final 1:12 to help keep Richmond within eight at the break.

Leading 36-29, the Warriors pulled away by going on a 12-0 third-quarter run. St. Pius led 55-36 at quarter’s end.

A near-perfect shooting performance fueled St. Pius’ 24-13 third quarter. Unofficially, the Warriors made 10 of 12 shots (83.3%) from the field. The Spartans went 5-for-13 (38.5%).

The Warriors put it away with a 21-11 fourth quarter to secure their third district title in five seasons. They won Class 3 District 15 titles in 2021 and 2023.

Miles Winders led St. Pius past Richmond by pouring in 24 points – 13 of them during the third quarter. The senior was among three Warriors to finish in double figures, with Brady Stacy contributing 15 points and senior Jackson Stacy adding 13.

Quick paced Richmond with 17 points and was one of two Spartans in double figures. Gabe Johnson, one of a handful of players Richmond will lose this spring to graduation, contributed 15 points.

Quick and Johnson were among five Spartans who scored. Hendrix, a sophomore, had eight points. Senior Tristan McCoy added four points. Moyer, a first-year high schooler, contributed his second-quarter trey.

In handling Richmond, St. Pius improved to 19-10 and advanced to face Benton of St. Joseph Tuesday in sectionals.

The Spartans, who carried an 11-game winning streak into the title tilt, finished 24-4. Their 23 regular-season victories set a school record, according to Josh McCray, Richmond activities director.

“It was a fun season,” Hendrix said March 8. “Got to be a part of something special – 24 wins doesn’t happen a lot. Wish we could’ve gone farther, but it was a fun season. Had a great time with my teammates. That’s a great group of guys to be around. Great leaders. Great atmosphere.”

In addition, practices were enjoyable, according Hendrix. And it was fun “bringing energy,” he said.

“I’ll remember that for the rest of my life,” Hendrix said.

Quick was pleased with the season, too. “It’s definitely a ‘W’ in the books, for sure,” he said.

Behler expects the Spartans to be competitive again in 2025-26.

“We’ve got some holes to fill – some big holes to fill – but we’re young, we have talent, we have talent coming,” he said. “I think we’re going to be good for a minute.”