Late Comeback Over Suns for Richland - By Kaya Chang
The Richland Bomber boys basketball team won on Tuesday against the Southridge Suns, leaving Richland second in the standings and Southridge at fifth. After this intense game, a long battle, and many fouls, the end score was 66-61.
Starting this game for Richland were Landen Northrop (sophomore), Lance Hornvedt (sophomore), Jack Forbes (senior), Luke Westerfield (senior), and Josh Woodrard (senior). The game began with the tipoff in the Bomber's favor, where Richland was unable to convert off of the first possession. Playing man defense, Westerfield switched on a screen and was guarding a small shooting guard, where Southridge scored the first points of the game with a three-pointer. It was evident for both teams where the points would be scored. Southridge has many shooters on their team. While it wasn’t difficult to get a paint touch, drawing a defender, kicking the ball out, and getting open shots was their best bet. Especially considering the height advantage the Bombers held over the Suns. On the other end, Richland used this height advantage and exploited it on offense, from rebounds, putbacks, and feeding the post. Most of the points scored for Richland came from within the paint, the Bombers being 3/14 from the three-point line.
Josh Woodard, especially, did an effortless job driving downhill to the net and feeding the ball to the post. RHS also had great ball pressure the whole game, locking down a few main scorers. Richland would sometimes trap in the corners and rotate slowly to help, leaving the Suns open for shots. After talking to varsity player Chris Daniels before the game, he explained that the goal for this game was to lock down on defense, specifically on their main scorer, shooting guard Jesse Tijerina (number 4 for the Suns), work as a team, execute offensively and rebound. The pace of the game remained unpredictable at times. It was a track meet from quick possessions back and forth to walking the ball up and setting up a play. Richland was up by 1 point in the first quarter, 17-16. The Bombers got to the free throw line double the amount as the Suns were, both teams averaging around seventy percent from the line. The Bombers went 19/27, and the Suns went 11/16. After speaking to Assistant Coach Cook, his main point and focus was to find ways to improve after losing to the Davis Pirates by three points in a nonleague game over the winter break. After watching the boys' games throughout the season, it's known that the starters change from game to game, keeping four players and rotating one around. Insight from Daniels about this matter: he said that Coach Streufert is rotating people through in search of a 5th, solid player to fill that role.
By halftime, the Bombers gained a lead, the score being 32-26. Up till half, the leading scorers for Richland were Jack Forbes(#5) with seven points and Lance Hornvedt (#3) with six points. For the Suns, they were Ozzy Richardson (#32) with eight points and Sam Lopia (#30) with six points. In the third quarter, the gap had closed to a four-point game, with the Bombers still with the lead 47-43. The Bombers had a hard time executing and finishing at the rim, leaving SOuthrdige with opportunities to exchange the lead from time to time. Fouling was constant throughout the game but became more significant towards the end. Southridge gained the lead in the last quarter of the game, with 45 seconds left on the clock. With an intense battle, The Bombers scored quick points to create the lead. In the final moments of the game, many fouls occurred from Southridge's end, and many students from the Bombers side stated that the last six seconds took around three minutes due to this. All in all, both teams showed perseverance and grit. This was a necessary win for the Bombers that will carry on into the season and bring on more confidence with the guys approaching the middle of the season.
