DAYTON, Ohio — Demaris Winters Jr. scored 19 points, Dorian Jones contributed 13 and Hosea Steele Jr. had 12 as Richmond Heights beat Berlin Hiland 62-35 in the OHSAA Division IV boys’ basketball state championship game at UD Arena on Sunday.

Richmond Heights (19-9) captured the state crown for a third-straight year joining Dayton Stivers from 1928-30, Columbus Wehrle from 1988-90 and Cincinnati North College Hill from 2005-07 as the fourth school since 1922 to win three-straight boys’ basketball state titles.

“Richmond Heights, people don’t really know the back story, but they used to lose a lot of talent year in and year out,” Richmond Heights head coach Quentin Rogers said. “So they had been knocking on the door, and these guys came in with the right mindset since they’ve been here. They give it their all. They buy into the team, and so they deserve everything they get.”

Berlin Hiland (23-7) led early 5-0 but didn’t bounce back from the Spartans’ 10-point run in the first quarter. Nate Wigton, who scored a team-high 16 points, began the game with a 3 as the Hawks opened shooting 2-of-3 from the field but went 23.8% the rest of the way

Berlin Hiland High School boys basketball head coach Mark Schlabach leads the Hawks during a timeout in the OHSAA Boys State Tournament final at UD Arena on Sunday. (Spectrum News 1/Jacob Benge)

“I thought we competed really well first quarter,” Berlin Hiland head coach Mark Schlabach said. “We got great looks in the third quarter just didn’t knock them down and that was pretty much the difference. They knocked down big shots there, and we didn’t.” The Spartans led by as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter and didn’t let Berlin Hiland come within 12 in the second half. Richmond Heights scored 28 points off 16 forced turnovers, and Winters’ 7-of-12 performance led the team shooting 46% from the field.

Steele ends his high school career having won three state championships in a row.

“It’s a blessing for me,” Steele said. “These are my brothers, so it’s been a long journey, but it’s a blessing.”

The starting five for the Richmond Heights High School boys basketball team wait for player introductions before the OHSAA Boys State Tournament final at UD Arena on Sunday. (Spectrum News 1/Jacob Benge)

Winters and Jones have now won the state crown in each of their first three years of high school. The duo and Spartans have won 21-straight postseason games.

“We grew up together. It’s been a long journey,” Jones said. “It’s been a brotherhood growing up playing with each other. It helped us on this journey today.”