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current.mnsun.com Bloomington • Richfield Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 Page 17 Spartans boys basketball comes up point short to BSM Team’s regular season fi nale is March 1 against Cooper By JASON OLSON [email protected] Richfi eld boys basket- ball coach Omar McMil- lan wouldn’t trade the current group for players he has for anything, no matter what the record might indicate. He has a young roster learning how to play varsity bas- ketball. “This is a good group of guys, they’re young, don’t have a lot of var- sity experience and are very talented,” he said. “The experience and bas- ketball IQ, we’ve just got to keep working on that because I wouldn’t trade these guys for any other team that I’ve had, we’ve just got to get over that hump.” The Spartans losing streak reached 12 games after coming up one point short against Benilde-St. Margaret’s on Friday, 69- 68 in St. Louis Park. McMillan says the team has been com- petitive, just like Friday when freshman guard Mitchell January led the way with 17 points fol- lowed by sophomores Lamar Grayson and Isaiah Casey Hammond with 15 and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore guard Ryan Miles and 6-foot-3 freshman Jaden Wollmuth each had eight points. Earlier in the week, a trio of sophomores led the offense in a 72-49 loss at Jefferson. Hammond, a 6-foot-5 forward, led the way with 10 points while Miles and Grayson each had nine points. All sophomores, the Spartans continue to make progress in what is the only way to gain expe- rience at the varsity level – playing. January added eight points while the Jaguars built a 38-23 halftime lead and rolled through the second half for the Metro West Conference win on Feb. 19. The Richfi eld coach liked the contributions Hammond and Woll- muth made on Tuesday. “I think they picked up 80 percent of our assists [Tuesday] and as a pro- gram we have to keep recognizing their ability and the things that they do as well as getting our guards to continue to play at a high level,” Mc- Millian said. Miles, one of those guards on the receiving end of the assists, said the focus against Jeffer- son was on the defensive approach and playing as a team. “We’ve got to be wor- ried about the win and not your points after the game,” Miles said. His ultimate goal is to be at the top of the conference and earn a section title to advance to state before he graduates. Richfi eld wrestling The Spartans qualifi ed four wrestlers for the Class AA state meet, which begins Thursday with team competition followed by in- dividuals Friday and Saturday. Vishall Manikaran (106), John Hughes (113), Drake Elling (126) and Juan De Dios-Molina (285). Richfi eld swim/dive Under fi rst-year head coach Matt Graham, Richfi eld boys swimming and diving qualifi ed two divers and four swimmers for the Class A state meet from the Section 2A meet which concluded on Saturday at Richfi eld Middle School. Divers Erik Larson and Abednego Gorsche fi nished fi rst The Spartans coach likes the competitive na- ture of his team as they’ve blown a number of leads or been within striking distance at halftime only to fall down the stretch. Richfi eld led Cooper by double digits on Feb. 5, but ultimately came away with a 92-81 loss thanks to the Hawks second-half rally 58- 43. Miles went toe-to- toe with Cooper’s Jalen Justice, each scoring 33 points. Hammond add- ed 18 points and Aaron Zambrano had 14 points for the Spartans. Both games against Kennedy, the Spartans led by 20 points at one point and came away with a 67-64 victory on Jan. 11 before losing the Feb. 7 meeting 80-70. “We were up by 18 then end up los- ing by 18 points,” McMil- lian said. “So that’s been what our conference sea- son has been like. We’re just unraveling in the sec- ond half with turnovers and transition defense.” Richfi eld travels to St. Paul Highland Park on Thursday, Feb. 28 in a game against a Section 3-3A opponent before wrapping up the regular season against Cooper at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 1. Follow Jason Olson on Twitter @SunSportsJason. and third, respectively in the one- meter diving event. James Bow- ers qualifi ed in the 200 IM and 100 fl y and was part of the state- qualifying 200 medley relay team. Ray Haar also qualifi ed in the 100 breaststroke. Graham was named the section head coach of the year, Terri Von Feldon was named the diving coach of the year and Dan Pederson was named the assistant coach of the year. Isaac Grams After coming up one win short of qualifying for state last season, the Kennedy sophomore is headed to the Class 3A state tournament after a second-place fi nish at 160 pounds in the Section 3-3A tour- (SUN CURRENT STAFF PHOTO BY JASON OLSON) Jefferson senior Jacob Bechtold, middle, drives in the paint while being guarded by Richfi eld’s Isaiah Casey Hammond, left, and Ryan Miles, right during their Feb. 19 game. nament at Kennedy on Saturday. Sam Wallace The Jefferson diver captured the Section 2AA title on Friday with a score of 414.60 and is the top seed at the Class AA state 1-meter div- ing meet. Finals will be Saturday at the University of Minnesota. Jefferson swimmers The Jaguars 200-yard medley re- lay team of Preston Le, Alex John- son, Carlos Andert and Jon Halas- ka qualifi ed for the state meet with a time of 1:38.86 at the Section 2AA meet which concluded Fri- day, Feb. 22 at Chaska. The relay was fi fth but qualifi ed by beating the time standard of 1:39.37. 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