Richard Winn boys basketball falls short in first title game appearance since 1986
Sensing his team was down and needing a positive message, Richard Winn coach Nick Chaisson pulled his team in a huddle after the buzzer sounded Saturday.
Before the postgame handshake, Chaisson reinforced the positives to his team on the season despite the 54-40 loss to Faith Christian in the SCISA Class A championship game. It was the first time Richard Winn made it to a title game since 1986.
“They were upset and ready to get out of there. They are so competitive,” Chaisson said. “I told them they did something special. They made history today. We will get them a couple of banners and put them up on the wall. … And I told them thank you for helping us to get to the state championship game.”
Richard Winn finished the season with 22 wins, its most since winning 23 in 2019-20 season.
Chaisson thinks his team was a little star-struck in the moment and started slow. The Eagles went without scoring for six minutes in the first quarter and were down 14-8 after one.
The deficit continued to grow as Faith Christian didn’t resemble the team that only scored 26 points in the 26-23 semifinal win against WW King on Thursday.
Guards Omari Johnson and Elijah Brown made things difficult for Richard Winn with their quickness and outside shooting. Johnson had 13 points, and Brown added 11 and hit a 3-pointer to put the Crusaders up 30-11 at halftime.
Brown hit three 3-pointers in the first half.
“The hard work was put in before today so it was just a matter of coming out and having fun, and finishing the job,” Faith Christian coach Steve Guerry said. “Fortunately, we came out and shot the ball well early. All of the hard work paid off.”
Faith Christian was up by as many as 21 points in the third quarter. But Richard Winn fought back and got within 11 points early in the fourth quarter before Faith Christian answered with a 6-0 run to make it 45-28.
Lawson Wade led Richard Winn with 15 points before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a leg injury. He was named to the all-tournament team, along with Drew Spires.
Johnson and Matterius Bell were all-tournament selections for Faith Christian.
“I thought we came out pretty good in the second half and played even with them,” Chaisson said. “Give credit to all our players for playing hard.
“It was a great season. We haven’t done this since 1986. Richard Winn has a great girls basketball tradition and now the boys kind of put itself on the map.”
RW: Spires 3, Stuck 9, Caulder 6, Lawson Wade 15, Bonds 4, Nicholson 3. FC: Hewett 6, Bell 9, Omari Johnson 13, Elijah Brown 11, Watts 6, Ortiz 6.
This story was originally published February 25, 2023 at 2:54 PM.
