The Lopsided Rivalry - by Andre Ang

  After a long winter break, the Richland Bombers finally got the chance to get out and demonstrate their authoritative offense and constricting defense in the affair against the Pasco Bulldogs on Tuesday, January 3, of the new year. Despite putting up a small fight at the beginning of the game when they were up 7-2, Pasco inevitably gave up their lead and never found it again, losing to Richland 79-30. Richland moved up to 4-2 on the season but 3-0 in their district, while Pasco continues to struggle now, becoming 0-6 overall and 0-3 in district play. 

Photo courtesy of Megan DeGraaf (RHS Yearbook).

Throughout their dominant performance, Richland’s prime performers continued to be Josh Woodard and Luke Westerfield, the two juniors that have been going at it since they were freshmen. They seem to be the treacherous duo commanding their respective fields and blossoming as leaders for this Bomber franchise. Josh, the lead scorer with 19 points, dominated the front court, obtaining 3 steals to go along with his usual above-average statlines. And down in the paint, Luke seemed to manhandle the glass, leading the Bombers in rebounds with 11 and complimenting his performance with 11 points as well, resulting in another double-double for him. 

I could personally sit here and write an article about the game, play-by-play, evaluating in depth what happened, but in the end, the same exact result that has been happening ever since I was a little kid took place. The Bombers inevitably beat up the Bulldogs. There was little to no surprise that the Bombers won by such a big margin, as they have done this for many past years. The Bulldogs cannot seem to catch a break. Although they put up a minimal fight in the 1st quarter, the game went all downhill from there for Pasco. The Bomber defense squashed any hopes of a comeback following the 1st quarter. Speaking with multiple different Bomber players, they consider their matchups against Pasco as “practice” or an easy win, a game for Coach Streufert to put in his younger guys and players that don’t necessarily get much playing time. For years, this has always been the case in terms of basketball. 

Photo courtesy of Megan DeGraaf (RHS Yearbook).

Let’s go back in time. In the year of 2009, Pasco’s population grew so large that there needed to be another public school built in that city to compensate for the increase in population. As a result, Chiawana was built. But long before the construction of Chiawana, Pasco was a powerhouse in the Mid-Columbia Conference. They dominated in multiple different sports and maintained a rivalry with the Richland Bombers. Speaking to multiple different Bomber alumni, they all recalled a time when Pasco had astronomically gifted athletes that would repeatedly pave pathways to state and make significant runs in various sports. But now, they seem to statistically continue to be one of the worst schools in the sports category following the split of the Pasco schools in 2009. The last time they beat Richland in basketball was February 2, 2009, the year before Chiawana opened up. And ever since then, the rivalry between Richland and Pasco became lopsided, leaning in the direction of Richland. They have competed against each other 24 straight times. Within those 24 contests, Richland has beaten them every single time with an average margin of victory of 40 points. Since the opening of Chiawana, Pasco’s past history seems to have faded. It is becoming a blur in which a majority of the current students in the Tri-cities fail to recognize and remember the dominance of Pasco sports in the 1900s and early 2000s. 

Photo courtesy of Megan DeGraaf (RHS Yearbook).

Moving on from this game, the Richland Bombers will have a tougher schedule. They move on to face a talented Chiawana team that could pull away with a victory if the Bombers do not play their cards right. And after that, they will face Southridge, Kamiakin, and Kennewick, teams that also have very good potential this season. It will be an entertaining next couple of weeks, and will be fun to watch this dexterous Bomber team and what the future holds for them.