Davis Escapes with a Win Despite Richland’s Comeback Effort - By Bradley Beck
The Bomber’s last second attempts weren’t enough to take down the Pirates this past Friday. This clash of MCC and Big 9 powerhouses took place at A.C. Davis High School in Yakima on December 29th. The Bombers came into this game with a 5-1 record, coming off a dominant 50 point differential win over Chiawana. Landen Northrop led the team with 29 points against the Riverhawks. Davis entered the game with an 8-1 record after taking down Camas the past week, with the only loss being to red-hot Eastside Catholic.
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| Photo: Yakima Herlad-Republic |
Before the game, junior guard Cesar Hernandez was recognized at center court for reaching the 1,000 point mark for his high school career at Davis. Hernandez’s point efficiency can be compared to Richland’s Josh Woodard, who hit 1,000 points last year as a junior. Cesar has been a leader at point guard this season for Davis, complimenting the talents of Blake Garza, Finnegan Anderson, and Nathan Stephenson.
Starting for the Bombers was senior Josh Woodard, sophomore Landen Northrop, sophomore Lance Horntvedt, sophomore Sylen Kiesel Kauhane, and senior Luke Westerfield.
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| Photo: Yakima Herlad-Republic |
Davis started the game off with control of the scoreboard, jumping out to an early lead. Richland’s defense was challenged by the dual threats of Hernandez and Garza in addition to the Pirates getting several second looks off of offensive rebounds. Northrop dropped the first bucket for the Bombers with a three-pointer while Westerfield collected multiple smack-down blocks. The score at the end of the first quarter was 11 - 21 in favor of Davis.
In the second quarter, the Bombers defense came alive, limiting Davis to only 11 points in the period. However, Richland struggled to get the ball inside to 6 '10’’ Westerfield, who had zero points before the end of the half. Woodard also struggled in terms of scoring, but Northrop was able to keep the Bombers in contention. The first half ended with Davis ahead with a score of 25 -32.
The second half started out strong for the Bombers. Westerfield was able to get more touches and capitalize on opportunities around the rim. Northrop was cooking from three-point range, going 4 for 8 from beyond the arc in the game. The Bombers stayed tough on defense and limited Davis to 11 points again in the third quarter. On the other hand, Richland was able to catch up to the Pirates, scoring 18 points in the third quarter, bringing the score to 50 - 46 in the Bombers’ favor.
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| Photo: Yakima Herlad-Republic |
The fourth quarter was full of action and tension. Davis started to feel the pressure of the Bombers after their comfortable lead was cut down. Davis’ Cesar Hernandez led the Pirates late-game surge with 15 of his 26 points coming in the final quarter. Hernandez found the free throw line several times on some controversial calls on his shots. He took advantage of the refs and was able to get to the line almost every time he shot. On one of Hernandez’s shots, he stayed laying on the floor with an apparent cramp and his coach came onto the floor without calling a timeout first. Coach Streufert of Richland was visibly infuriated that Davis’ coach wasn’t penalized, referring to the no-call as a misapplication of the rule and later filed a formal complaint. Both schools’ student sections each fired obscenities across the court in this heated final quarter in addition to roars of the packed crowd of Davis fans.
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| Photo: Yakima Herlad-Republic |
As time winded down with a Davis lead of 63 - 60, Josh Woodard and Landen Northrop each attempted three-pointers that couldn’t fall. The Davis crowd erupted after the clock hit zero, basking in the fact that they had taken down a Bombers team that they know they will see later this season in Tacoma. Northrop led the Bombers scoring with 18 points. Luke Westerfield added 13 in the second half alone while Jack Forbes scored 10 and Josh Woodard was limited to less than 10 points for the first time this season. Lance Hornvedt had a great game with 11 points and a handful of rebounds. Although Davis had more turnovers in the game, Richland committed more fouls (18), leading to more Davis points from the free-throw line. Cesar Hernandez led the Pirates with 26, Anderson had 13, Stephenson had 9, and Garza added 7. The Bombers now look ahead to their rivalry game against the Kamiakin Braves on the 5th.
