Wildcats Claw a Victory from Bombers - By Mackenzie Schulz

After falling to the University Titans the previous night, Richland faced off with the Mt. Spokane Wildcats at Mt. Spokane on Saturday. The Wildcats had won their season opener against Post Falls and were looking to keep their momentum going while the Bombers were trying to rebound from the previous night. However, Richland couldn’t match up to the physicality and size of Mt. Spokane.

This year, Richland has a very young team, which differs from the previous years. When asked how she manages a young team going into games, Head Coach Amy Westerfield said, “Understanding there will be a lot of nerves going into games and getting our players to shake off mistakes by focusing on the next offensive or defensive possession. Our two seniors are doing a great job of leading by example and helping their teammates rather than scolding them for making mistakes. That makes a huge difference in calming nerves and coming together as a team. As far as preparation is concerned, try to keep things simple and work to get the ball to players in a position where they'll be successful.” 

Being short of a few players, Richland had to strategize how to go about their game methodically. “Both University and Mt. Spokane have some physically strong, skilled, and experienced players, so we had to keep them off the boards and to make sure we knew where their shooters were. Offensively, we needed to move the ball to make them pay for double and triple teams,” stated Coach Westerfield. 

Winning the tip, Mt. Spokane drives middles and kicks the ball out to Dakota Wyss, who makes a three from the top of the key. Richland looks to get their first point by getting the ball inside to Mackenzie Schulz. Fouled on the shot, Schulz gets the first point for the Bombers, making the second free throw. Tying the score 3-3, Taylor Davis passes the ball inside to Schulz, putting up a hook shot. The Wildcats went on an 8-0 run, giving themselves the lead 3-11. Giving Richland’s offense the boost it needed, Ryanne Stottlemyre swished a three from the left wing. Schulz goes coast to coast, getting fouled by Sloane Gardner, making the score 7-11, Mt. Spokane. Deanna Drake drove middle and made a floater, 9-11. Mt. Spokane went on another short, 5-0 run. Stottlemyre cuts to the basket and gets fouled on the shot, making the first free throw. The next time down on offense, Stottlemyre got an offensive rebound, getting fouled on her shot and making both free throws. The quarter ends 12-18, Mt. Spokane. 

At the beginning of the second quarter, Richland got called on several shooting fouls, allowing Mt. Spokane to increase their lead with free throws, 12-21. Richland broke the Wildcat press, leading to a drive-by Schulz, going left, then spinning back right for two points. Off a rebound, Javaya Davison gets a put-back for an easy two points. Wyss got another open look from three, giving them a 12-point lead. Mt. Spokane’s Karis Santucci got fouled on a put-back, making both foul shots 16-30. Having a good look off a ball reversal, Stottlemyre hit another three from the left wing. On the other end, Gardner hit a three for Mt. Spokane. The score at the half was 21-35, Mt.Spokane. 

In the third quarter, Drake hit the first shot for Richland, a baseline jumper. Davis hit a three on the right wing, making the score 26-39, Mt. Spokane. Gardner drove to the basket and scored 2 points, which was matched by Schulz the next play. Stottlemyre made a three, rattling around the rim before going in. Wyss answered Stottlemyre’s three. Mt. Spokane maintained their lead throughout the quarter, with both teams scoring. On the right wing, Davis made a three. At the end of the quarter, the score was 46-57, Mt. Spokane. 

The fourth quarter started off with Carly Kreutz getting an offensive board for Richland and getting fouled on the put-back. Kreutz made both of her free throws. After a few minutes of back-and-forth scoring, Drake swished a three from the corner. Richland is still down by 10 with 4:30 left in the game, 53-63 Mt. Spokane. With three minutes left in the game, the Bombers tried to throw a press at the Wildcats in hopes of forcing some turnovers. Drake and Davis managed to get a trap in the corner, leading to a layup for Drake. The Wildcats found their way of breaking the press, which allowed Santucci to get several open layups. With just under two minutes left, Stottlemyre got an offensive board and threw up a reverse layup just as she got her contact poked out of her eye. Like a real competitor, she doesn’t let this phase her--she finds her contact and puts it back in, subsequently making her and one free throw. The next play down, Stottlemyre got the ball and nailed a deep three, making the score 61-74, Mt. Spokane. The final score of the game was 63-78, Mt. Spokane. 

Photo: Ryanne Stottlemyre

Both teams battled hard and made each other work. This is just the beginning of the season and both teams are expected to improve over the course of the season. The top scorers for Richland were Ryanne Stottlemyre (20 points), Mackenzie Schulz (17 points), and Deanna Drake (11 points). With her 20 points, Stottlemyre had a career-high and played a great game overall. 

When asked how she thought the game went, Stottlemyre replied, “I think we played very well together despite it being one of our first games.”

Coach Westerfield spotlighted some of her players: “Spotlight Ryanne for physical play inside. Spotlight Carly, for communicating all the time on the floor. Spotlight Mack for doing it all on both ends of the court,  and Deanna & Taylor for hitting some big shots…Overall, I'm thrilled to see the improvement of our returning players and how quickly our rookies are acclimating and contributing to our team.”