Richmond, Almont both show signs of growth in boys basketball battle

RICHMOND — Two BWAC rivals brought out the best in each other. And it made for one of the better games of the season.

Richmond's boys basketball team slipped past Almont, 51-49, at home, on Friday night. Karl Stevens finished with 17 points, five rebounds and two steals for the Blue Devils, who improved to 7-1. The Raiders fell to 3-4 and were led by Logan Walton's 16 points, five rebounds and two steals.

"I just thought (our players) battled," Richmond coach Josh Presnell said. "And that was good to see, because a lot of times last year we would've probably just packed it in and went home. But we didn't. We fought back."

"We're still getting better," Almont coach John Hall said. "That's what we talked about today. This was a fun game. This was the first time all year that we really competed, that we didn't shy away, that we played aggressive the entire game."

It was a welcome sight for both coaches, whose players are still adjusting to new roles and responsibilities.

"I got younger kids, sophomores that play a lot, that we've got to get (more) experience," Hall said. "Our seniors are being leaned on a lot more than they were as juniors."

The Raiders only have five seniors on their roster, led by Walton and Blake Campbell (12 points, four rebounds, one steal).

"We were young last year, all sophomores," Presnell said. "We're all juniors (this year), we don't have a senior."

But the Blue Devils have one freshman as part of their rotation in Trey Graham. The guard finished with 13 points, four rebounds and four steals in the victory.

"Right now, between him, Marcus Thompson and (D'Quan Haskins), they can really get out and sit down on people (defensively) and make it difficult," Presnell said. "I think it was our defensive pressure that turned things around."

"We just lost our minds with their ball pressure," Hall said. "We either turned it over or we took terrible shots and both led to leak outs in transition for them.

"I thought our defense was really good all night. The only time when we were bad (defensively), our offense turned it over and you can't guard that. And that's when they went on their run."

Richmond exploded on a 15-0 tear midway through the third quarter. That turned a 27-23 deficit into a 38-27 lead for the Blue Devils. Graham hit three triples during that span.

"He was fortunate enough to play varsity football as a freshman," Presnell said. "So that kind of trickled over where I don't think the situation is too big (for him)."

But if the third quarter belonged to Graham, the fourth was when Walton grabbed hold of the spotlight. The senior scored nine points in the final period to keep the Raiders within striking distance.

"He was really patient for the first time all year," Hall said. "He would up-fake, up-and-under, he got a (block) early and then he just did a really nice job."

The Raiders also made some defensive adjustments that disrupted Richmond's rhythm.

"We mixed up defenses in the fourth quarter every two or three possessions and that mixed them up a little bit," Hall said. "They forced a couple shots and we did a great job. There were a couple defensive rebounds we didn't get. If we do it's a different story."

"Our bigs rebounded the ball really well tonight, so that was the key" Presnell said. "We were fortunate enough to get some free throws to go in the end and we lucked out."

The Blue Devils went 5-for-5 from the foul line in the final 36.8 seconds. Thompson (six points, seven assists, five rebounds) made the first two and Haskins (10 points, five assists, five rebounds) sank the last three.

"What I told the guys in the locker room after the game was, 'You know what? Today, on Jan. 14, we're not ready to win that game,' " Hall said. "We had rebounds in our hand and they knocked them out. We had a layup and we missed it ... they were ready to win the game and we weren't. We're still developing."

Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Richmond, Almont both show signs of growth in boys basketball battle