The Braves Bow Down to the Bombers - By Justus Thurman
The Kamiakin Braves’ third-quarter surge was not enough to stop the Bombers this last Friday. This classic matchup between two athletic powerhouses in the MCC went down in fantastic fashion, with Richland hosting on a cold Friday night. Both teams entered the game with two out-of-conference losses, and both had a loss to A.C. Davis. Josh Woodard seemed to be back to his old self, leading the Bombers with 22 points and Richland’s only two three-point shots.
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| Photo: Kim Fetrow (@kimfetrowphotography) |
The atmosphere of this game never fails to blow expectations out of the water, with both sides of the gym packed out. The Richland Bombers have won 8 MCC titles in the last 10 seasons, but Kamiakin has stolen two of those wins with back-to-back titles in the 21-22 and 20-21 seasons. Both teams featured star players in the state, with Kamiakin’s Peter Dress and Richland’s Josh Woodard and Luke Westerfield. Dress, committed to Embry-Riddle in Arizona, led the MCC in points and had just broken the 1,000-point barrier a few days before this matchup. The Bombers feature 4 players in the top 11 scoring leaders.
The Bombers took the court with senior Luke Westerfield, senior Jack Forbes, senior Josh Woodard, and sophomores Landen Northrop and Lance Horntvedt.
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| Photo: Kim Fetrow (@kimfetrowphotography) |
The game started off quite slow, with the first points being scored by the Braves after almost two minutes. It did not take long for the Bombers to answer, with good inside work from Luke Westerfield putting them in the lead only 30 seconds after the initial three were made by Dress. It’s worth noting that the Kamiakin student section, dubbed “run kano,” chanted “I believe we will win” before tipoff. As the first quarter came to an end, the Bombers had a 10-point advantage over the Braves, up 19-9. Josh Woodard has a stellar first quarter, with nine points and four steals.
In the second quarter, the Bombers' momentum seemed to come to a slower pace. The defense struggled as Kamakin was able to move the ball around much more easily and with efficiency. The Bombers managed a 10-point lead up until the end of the game, as the half ended 27-33 in favor of the Green and Gold.
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| Photo: Kim Fetrow (@kimfetrowphotography) |
The second half started off exactly the same as the first half. No scores until about a minute in, when Peter Dress sinks a deep three to cut the lead to three for Richland. Westerfield answered with a “SLAMMA JAMMA,” as announcer Max Schuster would say, over Dress’s head top. Unfortunately, a technical foul was called on Westerfield, and Dress was up to the line to shoot. As the Bombers tried on offense, it seemed as if they were moving with momentum that was not there. The Braves caught up to the Bombers with five minutes left in the third, but were sure to keep the Braves under as Jack Forbes made a layup to put the lead to five going into the final quarter of the game.
The fourth quarter was filled with action and tension coming from the fans and the players. As I mentioned earlier, it was absolutely a packed house at Art Dawald Gymnasium, and both student sections were showing off to the best of their ability. As the game continued, both teams were unable to score until Jack Forbes put down a nasty dunk over James Kinsey of the Braves, which seemed eerily similar to Forbes’ dunk last season against the same team. The Richland fans erupted, and a Kamiakin timeout was called. The Bombers had come back to their first-quarter form and were able to score the basketball when it counted. The timeless matchup ended in a Green and Gold fashion with a tremendous dunk and a Bomber win.
Sophomore Lance Horntvedt has gotten very comfortable on the court and to Richland’s advantage. Lance had a valuable 10 points and three rebounds and was a key to the Bombers’ defense.
