Bulldogs Bow Down to the Bombers - By Camryn Reynolds
The Richland Bombers had the Hermiston Bulldogs bowing down to them at home with an 84-55 win on Saturday, January 20th. Richland started off a tad slow but picked up the pace and dominated every quarter. The Bombers got their lead in the first quarter and never led up, ending in a total blowout.
Before the game, I asked Landen Northrop his thoughts about the upcoming game and how the team has been doing, especially with the game that was supposed to happen against Hanford on Friday, January 19th, but ultimately got canceled. He said, "I feel pretty good about the game tonight. I'm ready to play since a few games got canceled. At practice, we have mostly been running through plays, shooting around, and staying in shape for the games. Hermiston is a really underrated team. They have a good new head coach who can trouble any team."
Tip-off happened at 5:00 p.m., and the starting lineup included Northrop, Lance Horntvedt, Jack Forbes, Josh Woodard, and Luke Westerfield. The game started with Hermiston shooting free throws and a 2-0 lead to the Bulldogs. Right after that, Woodard scored, tying the game at 2-2. Bulldogs lead for a minute at 6-2, but with a little under six minutes left, Northrop and Westerfield retaliated, bringing a Bomber lead up to 10-6 with just under four minutes left in the first quarter. Hermiston tied up the score 10-10, but Richland took the lead right back after Horntvedt scored a three-pointer, making the score 13-10. After a quick time-out from Hermiston, Forbes and Chris Daniels scored three-pointers, bringing the score to 18-10 with a little over a minute left in the first quarter. The quarter ended with a Bomber lead of 22-12, and Westerfield had a strong quarter, scoring seven of the 22 points.
During the second quarter, they had a lot of back-and-forth. In the first four minutes of the quarter, Hermiston scored, and right after, Richland scored. This back-and-forth did include a dunk from Westerfield off of an assist from Woodard. The ping-pong ended with the score being 31-24, with the Bombers leading. Richland went on an eight-point run before Hermiston scored again, racking the score up to 39-24. The Bulldogs got some good shots in, and the quarter and the half ended with the Bombers up 41-32.
At halftime, I spoke to a starter on the Girl's Bomber Basketball Team, Maya Rowe, and got her insights on the game; "I think the game is going how I expected based on their first game against Hermiston in terms of score. The team was initially playing slowly with some turnovers and missing some easy shots, but they have been turning it around and picking it up. Richland is definitely the dominant team. I think it will end with the Bombers blowing them out."
The third quarter began with Forbes getting a steal and slamming a dunk, immediately showing dominance. Forbes ended up having an excellent quarter, scoring a third of the total points made by Richland in those eight minutes. Richland had some consistent scoring, keeping their lead, and a little more than halfway through the quarter, the score was 49-37. With about 2:45 left, Woodard had three assists in a row to Forbes, Northrop, and Westerfield, who got his second dunk of the night from that assist, cranking the score up to 57-41. Woodard took over the rest of the quarter, scoring six of Richland's eight points in the last bit. The quarter ended with Richland still ruling at 65-47.
In the fourth quarter, Richland came out swinging. They went on a 14-and-four run, scoring up to 79-51. This run included a dunk from Forbes and Westerfield and baskets made by Northrop, Forbes, Woodard, and Westerfield. Near the end of the quarter, all starters came out, and the game was run by Daniels, Brayden Pratt, Sylen Kiesel-Kauhane, Jackson Woodard, and Kayshaun Davis. Both teams made a couple of shots, scoring 83-55, and then the game ended with a free throw made by Jackson Woodard, with the final score of 84-55.
By the end of the game, it was clear that Richland had just had the better game. With the score ending in 84-55, Richland triumphed with a 29-point win. Hermiston did have some good plays and players, but they just fell flat to the Bomber's game. Richland is now 9-0 in the conference, and their next game is against a 7-2 in the conference, Walla Walla, on Tuesday, January 23rd.
