Richmond varsity boys basketball coach Kevin Jermain saw his Spartans kick their game into high gear Monday night against Excelsior Springs. Taking control with a 36-17 first half, the Spartans cruised to a 67-45 victory at Richmond Middle School to open the Winter Classic. The win put them at 6-6 overall entering Wednesday night’s meeting with Braymer, also at the middle school. “When we’re playing well, I think we’re playing fast, making good decisions,” Jermain said. “And I think our defense drives it. And I thought our defense was speeding them up and creating a fast-paced game, which was giving us opportunities.” Sophomore Noah Quick credited Richmond’s pace to first-year high schooler Brice Dome coming off the bench. “He gave us an advantage on defense,” he said. “He brought the energy on defense. And that’s when we all started picking up our defensive game and started making them go fast-paced, … (commit) some turnovers. … We just got back into a rhythm and we got hot.” …