The Rivalry Continues - By Alex Billings

    The Richland Bombers took on their cross-town rivals this Friday night, the Hanford Falcons. In the 115th season of Bomber basketball, the boys started their season with two victories and one loss. After taking a tough loss to the Meridian warriors, the Bombers bounced back when they took on the Camas papermakers the next day. The Bombers were hunting for another win and clutched a dub against the Falcons, 85-53. 

Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_)

    The Falcons went 3-20 in the 2022-2023 season, while the Bombers went 21-6 and traveled to state at the Yakima Valley sundome. The last two times these two rival teams faced each other, Richland took home both wins. One is 106-40, and the other is 91-39. Coming into this game, the Falcons have a 2-2 overall record, taking home wins against the Eastmont Wildcats and the Kennewick Lions while taking losses to the Ridgeline Falcons and the Walla Walla Blue Devils. Not only did the Falcon boys come out strong, but the Falcon fans and students came to support them. 

    The Bombers had a slow first quarter with some trouble putting points on the board. This helped the birds keep the score close. While the Bombers put the first two points on the board, Hanford did not give up. Hanford Falcon Trevor Kaiser bounces back with a three-point shot to put the Falcons ahead. 6 '6 junior Trevor Kaiser would have an outstanding game for the Falcons, putting up 16 of their 53 points. Kaiser has been the leading scorer for the Falcons this season and continued to prove he can hold his own on the court. Another Falcon to watch out for in this game was senior Jaden Morales, who also put up 16 points for his team and had a fantastic offensive game and a defensive game. After a battle, the first quarter score would be 14-21. With Richland fans starting to worry this might be a close one, the bombers come out on the court strong after an aggressive halftime speech from Coach Streufert. Following a poor first quarter from the bombers, they started the second quarter with a 14-point streak, refusing to let the Falcons score. 

Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_)

    Being a rivalry game, this match was aggressive on both sides of the ball. Not only are the two teams rivals, but the two student sections as well. Neither student section showed mercy during this game. Both wanted to head home with the win. I spoke with a Richland student about what it means to beat Hanford. “It feels good to beat a rival, but when you beat them every year it starts to become what you expect.” 

    Although the Falcons didn't win this one, they put up a fight for all four quarters, with the halftime score being 25-51. 

    On the Richland side, 6 '10 senior Luke Westerfield had an excellent game, putting up 26 points of his own, tying his career high and making him the top scorer. I asked Westerfield what scoring the most points of the night felt like. “It felt good. I'm not usually one to be concerned with being the leading scorer. I just try to take advantage of my touches and get a bucket or kick it out to an open guy. After that lousy 1st quarter, the coach emphasized getting the ball inside, and our guys did a good job at executing that.” 

Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_)

    Also on the Richland side, seniors Jack Forbes and Josh Woodard put up big points of their own. Forbes had 16, and Woodard had 14. As usual, Woodard had an outstanding game with 8 assists and 4 steals to contribute to the Bomber's win.  

    While talking with Westerfield, I asked what the Bomber team did to prepare for this cross-town rivalry game, looking to keep their winning streak alive. “Coming into the game, we didn't really do anything to prepare specifically, but we had a few good defensive practices, kinda keying in on our pick-and-roll defense after our unimpressive defensive performances last weekend.” 

    After this game, the Bombers continue to dominate on the court, but they still have a long season ahead. They will take on the 0-8 Chiawana Riverhawks this Tuesday and look to continue their winning streak. 

Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_)