Bombers Lose Last Second to Eastside Catholic - By Bella Bunnage

Today, our Bombers faced off against Eastside Catholic High School in an out-of-conference exhibition game. Richland goes into this game with a solid win on their minds when they beat the Braves two Fridays ago. The Bombers were supposed to take on Walla Walla this Friday, but Weather played a role and prevented this game from taking place. Eastside Catholic went into this game with a 12-1 overall record and an 8-0 district record. Quite a few things impacted the Bombers' performance today, and these things didn’t get in the way of them playing their hardest. The weather in the Pacific Northwest hasn’t been ideal, and because of this, the boys couldn’t take their regular bus up and back from the game, which could have messed up the team dynamic. Our Basketball team goes into this game with an overall 8-2 record and a 7-0 district record. Our Bombers have been playing fantastic basketball through district play but previously haven’t seen the best outcomes when we play outside our district. Today, the Boys had a chance to make that difference. Eastside Catholic has a few very talented individuals, but one that stands out is Jacob Cofie, a 4-star athlete ranked number one in the 2024 class; he is signed to the University of Virginia to further his basketball career. Our team did a great job of keeping him from having a 30-point game, which is what he is used to doing. I asked our center, Luke Westerfield, about their game strategy for guarding Jacob. He responded, “We wanted to force him to make jumpers over me, which we could do, but he hit many of them. We didn’t want him getting loose inside either, so when he did get a post touch, we sent a quick double to dig and try and make him pick up the ball so he would have to move it”.

Going into the first quarter, the Bombers looked good on both sides of the court. Landon Northrup, sophomore guard, had thirteen points alone in the first, which was a great start for the Bombers. Landon continued to have an amazing game and was shooting extremely well. Without Landon's shots in the first quarter, the Bombers would have struggled. The quarter continued to be back and forth, with the Bombers leading almost the whole time. Jacob played well in the first quarter, with many jump shots in the key. The second quarter started 16-14, with the boys leading. They started great, with Luke Westerfield swatting someone. The beginning of the second mirrored the first well, with both teams scoring evenly. Landon had six points in threes alone and helped the Bombers advance. The energy was exceedingly high in the gym because of the close score. Every point was important, and knowing this made the game stressful for both sides.

The Bomber’s defense was exceptional in the second quarter; they forced two turnovers to allow Luke to get a huge dunk, which excited the Bombers and the few fans who made the trip. The second quarter ended with high energy. Josh Woodard, Senior Guard, had many assists throughout the first half of the game and helped the Bombers advance going into the half with a two-point jumper. When thinking about senior class members like Josh Woodard and Luke Westerfield, who are very impactful players to the team, underclassmen like Landon Northrup need to step up to fill their roles. I had a chance to speak to Landon. I asked what his intentions were to fill the impactful roles of the senior positions. Landon said, “Next year, I feel pretty good about being one of the main leaders next year because I’ve followed bomber basketball for my entire life, and I know what it means to be in that role and to carry on the traditions for Richland.” The determination from the Bomber community is what you can see in players going into the second half.

Going into the final half of the game, you could tell that the boys desperately wanted to gain points to help them further their winning score. Both sides of the court were obviously stressed out, and many turnovers were forced for both sides. Landon's shooting, however, did not change. He started off the half with yet another three-pointer. The score was continuously close in the third, similar to the entire game. Not much scoring happened for the Eastside Catholic boys. The Bombers ended the third with a four-point lead. The team went into the fourth quarter, perhaps too confident of their lead… Eastside Catholic responded to their lethargic attitudes with two three-pointers, which gave them a two-point lead in the match. The game began to be extremely taxing for opposing sides of the court. Kevelle Parkman was Eastside Catholic's shooter in the game's final eight minutes. He had two back-to-back threes, which were extremely important to help them lead in the match. The Bombers were struggling on both sides, offense and defense. They conceded three turnovers early in the fourth, and Eastside capitalized on these mistakes.

Josh Woodard came in clutch with a three-pointer to help the Bombers comeback. Josh continues to play impactful plays, including an assist to Chris Daniels to tie the game up 59-59. Eastside Catholic scored an easy jumper to put them up by two, and yet again, Josh Woodard responded by dribbling past the whole Eastside Catholic defense and drawing a foul to make two foul points for us. With only five seconds left on the clock, Landon saves the bombers with a two-point jumper. Finally, the Bombers are winning by two, but this point differential wasn't enough to secure a win for the Bombers. The scoreboard read four seconds left in the game, and Eastside capitalized on their last moment to win. Their shooting guard banked a three-point shot at the three-point line to help them advance to a win. The Bomber boys played extremely tough tonight, but it wasn’t enough to beat the number two team in the state for 3A boys' basketball.