Richland boys pick up fifth victory in eight days during rout over Grapevine
Playing their fifth game in the last eight days, Richland coach Danny Henderson was happy to see his Royals firing on all cylinders Monday night. He said that it was the first game where he had all his players.
Richland got four players with 10 or more points and the Royals shut down Grapevine, 74-57 in a District 6-5A boys basketball showdown. The Royals improved to 6-2 in district and 15-6 overall.
Grapevine dropped to 11-10 and 4-4.
“Pleased with the guys. They played hard defensively and carried out the game plan especially in the first half,” Henderson said. “It’s the first time all year we have everybody healthy and we’ve been playing well right now.”
The Mustangs hit back-to-back 3-pointers from Connor Maxwell and DJ Catalano, and a free throw pushed Grapevine’s run to 7-0 for a 7-5 lead early in the first quarter.
But Richland scored the next eight points and never trailed again.
Mark Rucha, who scored 15 points for the Royals, hit a 3-pointer and then got a steal and fast-break layup to give Richland a 13-7 lead with 2:30 left in the first quarter.
Richland extended the run to 12-3 and led 17-10 heading into the second.
A Jourdyn Grandberry pull-up jumper just inside the arc and a three from Jalen Nettles pushed the lead to 29-15 midway through the period. Buckets from Rucha and TCU football commit CJ Nelson sent Richland to a 47-22 advantage at intermission. Richland outscored Grapevine 30-12 in the quarter.
“We took away their three best 3-point shooters and it set us up to rebound and run,” Henderson said.
Grandberry, who was voted DFW player of the week this season, scored a game-high 18 points.
“It’s been hard, but definitely couldn’t do it without coach Henderson,” Grandberry said.
Richland pushed the lead to 30 in the fourth quarter before Grapevine pulled closer with the starters out. The Mustangs were led by Riley Park’s 11 points. Grapevine hit 12 3-pointers.
Nettles chipped in 12 points and KP Arnold scored 11 for the Royals.
“We have seven guys that can score 20 points any given night,” Henderson said. “We had four games in five days last week and had to win all four of them. They were really tired by the end of it, but it didn’t matter. They ran through it and I’m really proud of them.”
This story was originally published January 25, 2021 at 11:00 PM.
