Spartans follow heartbreaker with rout
Area basketball fans who saw Richmond play Monday night in varsity boys basketball might’ve wondered if the Spartans were taking out some frustration from a recent loss.
Spurred by a 19-2 opening run, the Spartans led Wellington-Napoleon 28-10 after one quarter and 57-14 at halftime. They then outscored the Tigers 26-23 the second half to finish their opener of the Richmond Winter Classic with an 83-37 rout.
“Usually, against teams that we should handle easily, we don’t,” guard Nolan Quick said minutes after the victory at Richmond High School. “We come out slow. … But tonight, we came out fast and just played team ball.”
Post player Gabe Johnson attributed that tendency to a team mindset.
“We think it’s going to be an easy game and then they turn up the notch on us, and then, we get in a bad situation,” Johnson said.
Johnson helped Richmond handle Wellington-Napoleon by scoring 20 points. The senior was among three Spartans in double figures. Quick, a junior, contributed 15…