Westerfield: Cutting Down the Nets - By Brayden Pratt

    Amy Westerfield is a name some of you might know as a teacher at Richland High School or as a mother to a star basketball player for a son, a valedictorian student as a daughter, and one of the most humble women you will ever talk to. But one of the titles she now holds is the Head coach of the women's basketball team here at Richland High. She was an assistant coach to Hayley Middleton and a JV coach under Syndey Mccoy, then took over the head coaching position full-time before the 2021-2022 season, and she did not disappoint. She's had it all in her two years as head coach, including dominating performances with three state tournament wins and back-to-back district championships.

Photo: Megan DeGraaf

   A little background about Westerfeld. Coming out of high school fresh out of winning a state championship for Glencoe HS in Hillsboro, OR, her senior year with some lifelong friends on her team who she still keeps in touch with to this day. She committed to play basketball at the University of Washington, but after a summer and fall with injuries and illnesses that came upon her, the fit just didn’t feel right, and she wanted to be back closer to home, so she decided to transfer to Portland University, where she shined. She was a baller for the Pilots, who at the time weren't the best in terms of women's basketball. Still, things started to pick up when Amy played after her redshirt year. She ended up making the tournament after winning the WCC conference tournament championship, where she won the tournament MVP. She played against some great teams in the tournament and even had a matchup against the WNBA great Lisa Leslie. After she graduated college and moved on from her playing career, she took on coaching as a way to get back into the game she had not just once played but once dominated.   

    Her first year as a head coach was not easy to start with in the MCC as there were many great teams, including Pasco, Chiawana, and Kamiakin, who were always posted as a battle with the Bombers. After a year 1 in the MCC, the Bombers came in at a respectable 11-5 but were definitely looked at as an underdog going into the District 8 tournament. They quickly proved why the Bombers were a scary team to have on the schedule; in the opening round, they dominated Lewis and Clark in a battle up in Spokane, then followed up with an upset of one of the top teams in the state, the Pasco Bulldogs in a win at the Bulldogs home gym showing they were a force to be reckoned with. They gave themselves a birth to the championship game and did not disappoint; they ended up making it through the gauntlet and won the District 8 championship over Chiawana at the Spokane arena, lifting themselves from a team not projected to make the State tournament at an astounding #7 seed breaking a nearly 17-year drought for the lady Bombers.

Photo: Megan DeGraaf

    The Bombers were on cloud 9 going into the state tournament, and the rest of the state was put on notice as they just went through a gauntlet to even make the tournament and were red hot. They opened up play with a regional game versus Sumner HS, who was the #2 seed and ended up making it to the championship. The Bombers flame was put out by Sumner up at Auburn HS, forcing the Bombers to play in the first round instead of getting a bye. The next matchup was at the Dome vs the Sunnyside Grizz, where the Bombers kept their Mojo rolling and defeated Sunnyside, which set up a match-up with the eventual state champs, the Woodinville Falcons, who ended the Bombers championship hopes, in a hard-fought game. They bounced back versus Emerald Ridge and earned a win, then in the 4th and 6th place game, they lost in a super hard-fought nail-biter game vs the Camas papermakers and finished the year as the 6th best team in the state. As you can imagine, Coach Westerfield was upset the season was over, but her head was high after a very successful season. Amy said this on the experience, “It’s all about things coming together at the right time.” She also said, “It was more for the program. It had been like 17 years science we had been to state, but I don’t take any credit for that,” which just goes to show how humble of a coach she really is and shows just how much it didn’t just mean for the team but for the whole community.

    Going into her 2nd season as a head coach of the Bombers was more of the same success as they finished up the regular season 15-5 and earned themselves the 2 seed from the MCC going into the District 8 tournament, where they got to host the Lewis and Clark Tigers and once again got the postseason started with a convincing W which set up a match up with the Central Valley bear where the Bombers traveled up to the Spokane Valley and dominated the #1 seeded bears in a game where it was the Green and Gold who had total control and once again gave them a berth into the district 8 championship where they would play their rivals the Kamiakin Braves. This matchup was all Braves during the regular season, but a common theme for this Richland team was that you DO NOT want to see them in the playoffs. So they went into the Kamiakin Braves house and beat them, earning back-to-back championships and back-to-back state berths. As you can imagine, Kamikain wasn’t too happy, and they were not afraid to let their emotions be expressed as they wouldn’t let the Bombers celebrate and cut down the nets. This is a typical practice at all gyms, regardless of whether the away team wins or even a neutral site is hosting. But Karama caught up with KaHS: the Boys' team beat Kamiakin to end their season. The girls celebrated by letting the girls cut down a net, and the boys cut down a net, which was a special moment for both squads and the Richland community shared at Art Dewald Gymnasium. 

    Now it was time for what all the training, practicing, blood, sweat, and tears lost during the season was all for. The State Tournament. The Bombers weren’t as fortunate this year and ended up with the 9 seed, so in a lose-or-out game at home, the girls faced off against the Olympia Bears and kept their season alive in front of a great home crowd where tons of students showed up and showed their support for the girls. This win propelled the Bombers to another berth in the Dome. The Bombers' first matchup was against the 1 seeded returning state champs and the team who ended the Bombers' season last year, The Woodinville Falcons. Unfortunately, the result was the same in this year's performance, and the bomber's season and championship hopes were cut short, and their tremendous run was over. Westerfield has this to say, “It was people coming in and contributing that led to us winning the game,” which goes to show that a big reason for this success in her early stages as head coach is thanks to a whole team stepping in and taking on the responsibility that lies in playing in such huge games.

Photo: Myck Miller

    Mrs. Amy Westfield has had a multitude of successes as a player and as a mother, and she is now adding a great resume already for her as a coach. I’m excited to see what the future brings for her career and for the future of the Lady Bombers basketball program.