Richland rallies for district three-peat

ESSEX — Once. Twice. Three times a district champion.

The Richland Rebels boys basketball team made history Friday night when it defeated the Delta Bobcats 80-67 to win its third Class 1 District 2 championship in a row — a first for the Stoddard County school.

The Rebels trailed Delta 30-16 in the second quarter before their offense came alive, closing the first half on a 27-4 run to take a 43-34 lead to the locker room.

The Bobcats cut the Richland lead to four points early in the fourth quarter (64-60), but the home team regrouped, and closed the game on a 16-7 run to clinch the three-peat.

Gary Tilley led the Rebels with a game-high 32 points, including hitting four 3-pointers in that pivotal second quarter, while Tucker Hughes added 16, Eric Williams had nine and Hayden Conner finished with seven.

Bryce Cox paced Delta with 30 points, while Isaiah Berry added 11 and Paxton Hornbuckle finished with six.

Richland will take on Risco in a Class 1 sectional match up on Monday.

This story will be updated.