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Richfield holds off late comeback, defeats Fridley for conference win

By Adam Holt, SportsEngine, 02/07/20, 3:15PM CST

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Spartans junior Lamar Grayson led all scorers with 29 points.

Richfield's Lamar Grayson (12) goes in for a layup over Fridley's Christian Crockett (0) and Micah Niewald (3). Grayson scored 29 points to lead the Spartans to an 89-82 win over the visiting Tigers Friday night. Photo by Gary Mukai, SportEngine

Richfield's Lamar Grayson (12) goes in for a layup over Fridley's Christian Crockett (0) and Micah Niewald (3). Grayson scored 29 points to lead the Spartans to an 89-82 win over the visiting Tigers Friday night. Photo by Gary Mukai, SportEngine

Something’s different.

The Richfield boys’ basketball team sits at 15-4 following an 89-82 Tri-Metro Conference win over Fridley on Friday night. The Spartans, ranked No. 10 in Class 3A by Minnesota Basketball News, started the season 6-2, and had an eight-game win streak in January.

Considering Richfield went 6-21 last year and 1-26 two seasons ago, and the previous high-water marks for wins in a season this last decade were 16 (twice) and 17, the 2019-20 campaign is on track to be the best the program’s seen in a long, long time.

“We just want to be the best,” said junior Lamar Grayson. “So we just work every day, we compete and we just try our hardest in practice.”

Sophomore Christian Crockett (0) scored 21 points to lead Fridley. The Tigers lost to No.10-3A Richfield 89-82 Friday night. Photo by Gary Mukai, SportsEngine

Sophomore Christian Crockett (0) scored 21 points to lead Fridley. The Tigers lost to No.10-3A Richfield 89-82 Friday night. Photo by Gary Mukai, SportsEngine

First report

A fast start helped Richfield top Tri-Metro Conference foe Fridley 89-82 at home Friday.

Lamar Grayson had 29 points to lead all scorers and help Richfield withstand a second-half push by Fridley.

Richfield (15-4, 6-1) led by 14 at halftime, but Fridley (9-10, 4-5) got back within 4 points before Grayson converted a basket and foul and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to get the Spartans a cushion again.

Isaiah Casey Hammond added 22 points, 19 coming in the first half as Richfield, No. 10 in the Class 3A rankings by Minnesota Basketball News, won the battle inside. Ryan Miles added 11, Jaden Wollmuth had 11 and Mitchell January had nine.

Christian Crockett had 21 points to lead Fridley, and Yoal Ruei added 20 while Isaac Burns added 17 as Fridley mounted its comeback attempt. Charles Rice had a big second half with 11 points.

Richfield's Mitchell January drives to the basket to score two of his nine points against Fridley on Friday night at Richfield High School. Photo by Gary Mukai, SportsEngine

Richfield's Mitchell January drives to the basket to score two of his nine points against Fridley on Friday night at Richfield High School. Photo by Gary Mukai, SportsEngine

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