Bomber Win To End Bomber Classic - By Alec Ammerman
The Richland Bomber took on the Camas Papermakers at Art Dewald Gymnasium on Saturday night. Both teams came through tough losses the night before, Camas losing to a strong Mount Spokane and the Bombers to the Meridian Warriors. Both teams, wanting to go home with a win, were ready to fight. Both teams advanced to the 4A state playoffs last season, both falling short in the quarter-finals. The bombers would end the night with a solid 79-61 win over the Papermakers.
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| Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_ ) |
With a quick start from both sides of the ball, Camas started out strong, scoring a quick basket right off the bat. We saw that the Papermakers were having trouble guarding 6-foot-10 Luke Westerfield early on, with multiple fouls, trying to defend him down in the paint. From the start, you could tell this would be a battle. Multiple players on both teams were hard to miss on the court. On the bomber side, sophomore Landon Northrop had an excellent game with 29 points, and it was no surprise that senior Josh Woodard showed up with 19 points of his own. On the camas side of things, Junior guard Jace VanVoorhis had a night of his own alongside sophomore forward Ethan Harris, who stands at 6 feet 8 inches.
At the end of the 1st quarter, the bombers lead 22-16. As we saw in the first quarter, Richland had the most rebounds and the least turnovers. Richland shot just under 70%, which was a recipe for success. This only continued into the 2nd quarter, Josh Woodard with multiple steals then to easy layins. After a back-and-forth second quarter, both teams fighting hard, the bomber came out with the halftime lead. Halftime score 39-35.
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| Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_ ) |
I was able to talk to senior Brayden Pratt about the tough loss against the Meridian Warriors the night before, “we are gonna take what we learned last night and improve off it. Execute the coach's game plan a lot better because we failed to do that last night and suffered from it.” As we saw, they really took that loss from last night and used it as motivation. Even though it was close at times, they always found a way to execute and pull out on top.
With the second half beginning, we are going to see both teams fighting to take this one home. This was a very back-and-forth half. Both teams ran the court very well with a huge second half from Richland's very own Sophomore Guard, Landon Northrop, 29 points on the night with a handful of three-pointers in the second half that put the momentum in the hands of the bombers and helped them keep control of the game. Going into his second season after coming off a very successful freshman season last year, Northrop will be looking to make a name for himself in the MCC and around the state. On the other side of the ball, Junior Beckett Currie, for the Papermakers, had a night for himself. Sixteen points on the night for this division one prospect who has offers from multiple division one schools are the Pacific Northwest.
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| Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_ ) |
Richland takes over in the fourth quarter, with multiple crucial defensive stops followed by a few well-run offensive possessions that resulted in a 13-0 run. With that being said, all the bombers needed to close this game out. Not enough time left for the Papermakers to have a chance at this well-fought game. Richland's second win of many on the season with a victory of 79-61.
After the game, I got the chance to speak with a fan, “Once this team clicks, they are going to be an incredibly tough team to beat.” the fan stated. This team's heights averaged well over 6ft 1in, which is a great advantage for high school basketball.
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| Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_ ) |
The Richland Bombers started up conference play this week, coming off an undefeated conference season last, hoping for the same. Opening up with Hanford for the first game of the conference, followed by a road trip to Hermiston and then a home game versus Chiawana. Then, the Bombers will take on the Davis Pirates in Yakima, known to be a well-rounded team. The Pirates are 4-0 on the season so far, beating three teams from the Mid-Columbia Conference. There is a tough schedule ahead, but nothing this Bomber team can't overcome in this 2023-2024 season.
