Coach Brett Hespell and the Minooka boys basketball team knew they would have a tough game on their hands against Peoria Richwoods on Wednesday to open the Class 4A Minooka Regional.

That’s exactly what happened, as the Knights, seeded third in the Rock Island Sectional, forced the sixth-seeded Indians to play catch-up the entire game.

Richwoods scored the game’s first seven points and never looked back in an 81-46 victory that propelled them to Friday night’s 6 p.m. championship game against top-seeded Rock Island, which beat Bradley-Bourbonnais 62-31 in the first semifinal of the night.

Richwoods sandwiched baskets by Anfernee Moore (14 points) and Davion McClendon (14 points) around a three-point play by Kalen Johnson (nine points) to grab a 7-0 lead. Nehemiah Brown, one of three Minooka players to finish with 10 points - along with Rhett Harris and Nathan Gonzalez - got the Indians on the board with a 3-pointer, but Richwoods answered with a 3-pointer by Johnson.

Brady Hairald (five points, game-high 10 rebounds) scored on a putback for Minooka, but a 3-pointer and a fast-break dunk by Amarion Smith-Holley (game-high 21 points) put the Knights ahead 15-5 at the end of the first quarter.

“They are very good,” Minooka coach Brett Hespell said. “They are athletic and aggressive, and we knew that coming in. Even knowing that, we got overwhelmed. You just can’t simulate that in practice.

“I was disappointed that we couldn’t keep them out of the paint. They really hurt us in there. We wanted to stop them from getting to the basket, but that’s easier said than done. It didn’t help that we went 4 for 16 in the paint in the first half. That’s not good enough to beat a team like that.”

The Knights opened the second quarter on a 14-4 run to hold a 29-9 lead. Gonzalez sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a basket by McClendon to pull Minooka to within 31-15, but Richwoods closed the first half on an 8-2 run to lead 39-17 at halftime.

Minooka opened the second half strong, outscoring Richwoods 6-2 in the third quarter’s opening moments, getting a 3-pointer by Brown and a three-point play by Harris. Richwoods countered with a 6-2 run of its own before Harris drained a 3-pointer to pull Minooka (14-17) to within 47-28. Richwoods closed the third on a 15-9 run to take a 62-39 lead into the fourth.

With 6:00 remaining, Richwoods got a basket from Tony Bradford (11 points) to move out to a 70-40 lead and invoke the running clock. Moore put the exclamation point on the night for the Knights with a three-point play on a putback basket, then turning a steal into a fastbreak dunk with 3:00 left for a 76-42 lead as both teams emptied their benches.

“It was hard for us to get into a rhythm,” Hespell said. “A lot of times, a team will travel for two hours to play on another team’s home floor and come out a little flat. That didn’t happen tonight.

“I am very proud of this team. With the injuries we had this season and playing short-handed quite often, we were a half away from finishing the regular season at .500. These kids played their butts off all year, and the seniors helped set a standard that we are going to be at a minimum right around .500. The future looks bright for us.”