The Richards boys basketball team was staring at a longer losing streak.
After dropping their previous two games, the Bulldogs faced an eight-point deficit Tuesday night in the fourth quarter against Bremen. They were in danger of continuing conference play in ugly fashion.
That’s when Deven Jiles took over.
The senior forward scored eight of his 21 points in the final eight minutes, looking unstoppable and helping fuel a dominant stretch that pushed Richards to a 67-52 come-from-behind victory.
“We slacked off in the first half,” said Jiles, who finished off the game with two dunks. “We knew we were the better team in the beginning, so we came out in the second half ready to go and locked in.
“We wanted to just get the game over with and get them out of the way.”
Thanks to Jiles, Richards (4-2, 1-1) emphatically did just that against Bremen (4-2, 1-1).
The Bulldogs, who had trailed since the midway point of the second quarter, kept feeding the ball to their star forward in the fourth.
Jiles rewarded that effort with a quick five-point burst, hitting two layups and a free throw to cap off a 13-0 run. Richards outscored the Braves 24-1 in the fourth, ensuring with authority a winless start in the South Suburban Conference would be no more.
“We talked about that pregame,” Richards coach Kyle Rathbun said. “We started off 0-1 and didn’t want it to carry over. I got on them a little bit at halftime and we upped the pressure on the ball, which eventually led to some turnovers and some layups.”
That pressure was on full display for the Bulldogs thanks to another senior in guard Greg Miller.
Miller had just two points through the first three quarters, but he came alive to kick-start Richards’ run in the fourth.
In the span of just under a minute, Miller grabbed three steals and scored four of his 11 points. His 3-pointer a few possessions later forced a 51-51 tie.
“We were just trying to get back in the game,” Miller said. “We started off kind of rough and just had to pick it up a little bit. We were working hard trying to get defensive stops.”
Early on, those defensive stops were harder for Richards to come by.
Although they built a 23-11 lead in the first quarter, the Bulldogs looked outmatched by Bremen soon after that.
Leaning on seniors Myles Griffith and Demarco Mason, the Braves outscored Richards 24-9 in the second quarter, carrying a 34-32 advantage into halftime.
Both Mason and Griffith ended up with 13 points. Griffith, a Mount Carmel transfer, scored 10 points in the second quarter.
More Top Picks Best Body Pillows For Side Sleepers For Shoulder Pain
But despite carrying the momentum throughout much of the game, the Braves could not slow down Richards when it mattered most.
“My guys have to execute,” Bremen coach Matthew Humphrey said. “Being up 11 points and then losing to a team by 15, clearly they had a better fourth quarter than us. My seniors didn’t play well.
“I didn’t see a lot of execution on the things that we do, so next game we need to focus on playing harder and smarter.”
As for the Bulldogs, their stunning comeback gives them a new outlook on conference play.
In just one game, they realized what led to their early season struggles and what they can do to guarantee they don’t run into them again.
“We played well together in the second half,” Jiles said. “The first half was kind of selfish, but we got together, dug deep and played hard.”
Casey Drottar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.