EAST LANSING >> The Michigan high school boys’ basketball state finals came to a conclusion on Saturday with the state championship games taking place at the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University.

The third game of the day’s festivities was the Division 3 state title between No. 1-ranked Riverview Gabriel Richard and No. 8-ranked A&T Academy of Pontiac, each of whom were making their first-ever state finals appearance.

After a tightly-contested first quarter, a big second allowed for the Pioneers of Richard to create some separation and pull away for a 79-63 victory over the Lions of A&T.

“I’d really like to thank our administration,” Richard head coach and athletic director Kris Daiek said after the win. “I don’t think enough people realize how much it takes to win.”

On Saturday, it was fittingly a full team effort from Richard, who saw four of their five starters log all 32 minutes and their sixth player off the bench, senior Bryce White, play the final 30 minutes of regulation.

Daiek took a few minutes to praise his opposition, particularly the play of ATAP freshman point guard Lewis Lovejoy.

“(ATAP) is a great ball club,” Daiek said. “(Lovejoy) is going to be a good player. They didn’t quit until the end, and we knew that was going to happen. I thought defensively, we played really well. Bryce did a good job on (Lovejoy).

I know it got a little interesting at the end,” Daiek added. “It didn’t seem like they couldn’t miss a shot. But I’m happy with the way the guys finished, hitting their free throws.”

The most interesting it got in a rather dragged-out fourth quarter was when ATAP got to within 11 points of Richard after falling behind as many as 23 late in the third.

It was just a slim one-point advantage for the Pioneers after the two teams traded the lead four times. The last change of the lead was a three-point basket from Luke Westerdale that kick-started an eventual 12-0 run for the newly-crowned state champions.

The recipe for that unanswered run to take control of the game is something that Daiek and company have been preaching all season long.

“We wanted to get the ball to Charles (Kage),” Daiek said. “We talked about that. Every game is always about getting the ball to Charles. Luke and Nick (Sobush) don’t always agree with that, they always want the basketball in their hands. Sometimes he passes the ball too much. But he’s such a good and unselfish player.”

Kage’s presence allowed Richard and company to take off. The senior himself had 10 points by halftime but also chipped in with three assists. The biggest beneficiary of the the Pioneers’ passing prowess early on was another Class of 2025 standout in Drew Everingham.

A Western Michigan baseball signee, Everingham tied for a game-high 12 points going into the intermission, pacing a Richard team that was up two touchdowns at 34-20 halfway through the season finale.

Daiek’s counterpart, ATAP head coach Orlando Lovejoy Sr, was also very cognizant of Richard’s plan from the get-go.

“After the first two plays, we pretty much knew what (Richard) was going to do,” Lovejoy Sr said. “They were going to set a high screen with the big man and then he was going to catch the ball and try to score or throw it out to the opposite side. We had a well-executed plan, we just came up short.”

“You can tell that they have a group of seniors that are tough,” Lovejoy added. “They wanted the ball a little bit more with a little bit more effort.”

ATAP in the first half shot just under 21 percent from the floor on 6-for-29 shooting. Outside of Lewis Lovejoy, the rest of the Lions shot a combined 2-for-22 for just eight points through the first two periods.

The elder Lovejoy did not otherwise have any qualms with how his team was running their offense, just that it was a matter of execution, or lack thereof.

“You can see there weren’t any issues, we just were missing shots,” Lovejoy said. “We had a bunch of missed lay-ups early on in the first quarter.”

The lead in the third quarter grew to as many as 23 and never dipped below 18 for Richard, who ended up with five players in double-figures. That included the aforementioned early bench effort from Bryce White, who matched Kage with a team-high 18 points by night’s end.

Westerdale, who finished right behind Kage and White with 17 points, talked about returning this season with a state title after coming up short in the state semifinals the year prior.

It’s honestly the best feeling of my life,” Westerdale said. “These are my favorite people. I’m just so happy, this is awesome. I used to sit in my room late at night and think what it would be like to win a state championship.

“This is better than anything I could’ve imagined.”

It was a quiet night scoring wise for Sobush, who chipped in with 10 points. The starting quarterback for the Pioneers’ football team that reached the D8 state championship game back in the fall, the senior echoed his backcourt mate’s sentiments on the redemption run for Richard.

“It feels amazing,” Sobush said. “We fell short in football earlier this year, and last year in basketball. To finally be on top, and to have these other seniors here doing it with me, it feels special.”

Meanwhile, Lovejoy led all scorers in the game with 21 points while adding eight rebounds. The high school rookie was the headliner for an ATAP program that reached newfound heights this season, most notably with 21 victories after tallying just 14 in the win column over the previous three years combined.

Albeit ending in a loss, Lovejoy the coach took pride in leading the Lions to the state finals, a place he hopes to be back at a year from now.

“It means a lot,” Lovejoy said.

“I think it is a steroid for our program. It’s unmatched. We’re going to start working back at it tomorrow. No days off, 365 (a year). For us, next year, we’re expecting to be here.”