BURTON–Richmond Heights rode a hot second half to a 70-39 Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division win at Berkshire on Tuesday.
The Spartans, who improved to 4-4 overall and 3-0 in league play, outscored the Badgers 18-4 in the third quarter to pull away for their third straight victory.
“Really, just work on execution, different sets offensively and more so than anything, just effort,” Richmond Heights coach Quentin Rogers said of the game plan at Berkshire.
B.J. Carter led the Spartans with a game-high 14 points while Anthony Maxie added 12 and Jevontae Jones added 10.
Berkshire trailed 19-8 after the first quarter but hung with the Spartans in the second to head into the locker room down, 35-22.
The Badgers hoped to remain competitive in the second half but struggled against Richmond Heights’ defense in the final 16 minutes.
“We wanted to slow the game down and look for good shots and grind the game out,” Berkshire coach Ryan Dickard said. “We didn’t do very well, at least in the second half. We did better in the first half, that’s why it was a close game. In the third quarter, they just kind of blew the doors open and we didn’t respond well to their pressure.”
Sam Roach led Berkshire with 10 points and Jacob Kastor finished with nine for the Badgers.
Richmond Heights puts its undefeated conference record on the line at Cardinal on Friday.
“Right now we’re just taking it quarter by quarter,” Rogers said. “We don’t look past (any) games or the opportunities ahead of us.”
Berkshire will look for its first win of the season on Friday at Wickliffe.
“I don’t think we’re going to see many teams better than Richmond Heights,” Dickard said. “That’s about the cream of the crop that we’re going to play this year. You learn from it, you watch film, and the big thing I say with the guys is you either win or you learn and we’ve had six opportunities to learn. We just need to bounce back and get back at it on Friday.”
Richmond Heights 70, Berkshire 39
Richmond Heights: Houston 9, Jones 10, Doabio 9, Maxie 12, Carter 14, Talbert 8, Hickerson 4, Martin 2, Sonie 2
Berkshire (0-6): Roach 10, Young 3, Barbar 5, Kastor 9, Sinkenbring 6, Hansen 6
Richmond Heights 19 16 18 17 — 70
Berkshire 8 14 4 13 — 39
Free throws: Richmond Heights 10 of 18, Berkshire 4 of 7; 3-pointers: Berkshire 7 (Roach 2, Young 1, Barbar 1, Kastor 3).
