Bombers Outlast Mead, Advance to District Championship - By Mooyoun Kim
Heading into the Bomber men’s basketball game against Mead, there were multiple variables for the players and coaching staff to consider.
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| Photo: @reardonproductions |
First, the school day after the team’s first district win was canceled, which may have given the boys time to sleep in and fully recover. Second, with the Bombers’ next opponent unknown until the evening after their first win, the fanbase and press began to speculate if the players were looking ahead to their district championship game against rival Gonzaga Prep. Such an idea was plausible from an outsider’s perspective--especially because a win in that game would almost certainly guarantee the number one seed in the state tournament--but head coach Earl Streufert was not going to let that enter his team’s thoughts. With many, many years of experience, he made sure his team was focused on the task at hand. This was reflected in my interview with junior forward Michael Revell the day before the game. He said, “No matter the opponent, our goal today is to get a little better in practice, especially on the defensive side. And when the game comes around, we’re going to trust each other and do what we’ve been doing all year.” Revell was especially experienced in focusing on the moment because he had played a key role in the hard-fought RHS baseball state championship the spring prior.
That night, Mead beat Kamiakin and became the team that would come to Art Dawald Gymnasium for Saturday’s matchup. But even so, much was mysterious about the Panthers (who the Bombers had not played yet this season) because they had unconvincing victories against mediocre teams yet also had a top-ten 4A RPI and lost to Gonzaga Prep by only two points in January.
When they came onto the court for warmups, my first impression of the visitors was that they would be competitive even if the game wasn’t on their terms. The Panthers had small, shifty players and also ones who could play bully ball, so it was going to be an interesting matchup against a Bomb Squad that was looking to improve on defense.
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| Photo: @reardonproductions |
The first quarter showcased my observations quite well. MHS eluded their way for several impressive layups and also used their physicality to get a couple rebounds that led to second-chance points. On the other hand, Richland was not quite able to finish their possessions and was looking at a 15-19 deficit at the end of the quarter. One point of suspicion was when Bomber star Landen Northrop went up for a three, was tripped by Mead’s Brady Thornton on the way down, and did not get the foul called. The student section was in disbelief, and many were concerned about that call snowballing into other blown calls (ironically on a weekend full of snow in Richland).
Quarter number two started off slowly as well for the Bombers, but a wide-open three by Nate Moore and a pull-up jumper by Josiah Scacco provided a spark for the team. The green and gold began tightening up their defense and headed into halftime with a 37-35 lead. Another thing to note: Mead’s 6’6” center Vance Gustafson was in some foul trouble with three on his name going into the half, perhaps loosening up the visitors’ defense.
Coming out of halftime, the home team took off on the offensive side with an 8-0 run. But Mead was not going to go away. They stormed back and led 53-50 toward the end of the quarter and seemed to have the momentum going into the fourth. This was when Richland really “locked in” and had a 10-0 run to end the quarter, capped off by a Northrop buzzer-beater well beyond the arc. This changed the vibe of the entire venue, giving the Bomber faithful reason to believe that their team would pull away soon.
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| Photo: @reardonproductions |
The fourth quarter was never in doubt for the green and gold, as standout guard Lance Horntvedt repeatedly worked the paint while the defense put the visitors into must-score possessions and got stops. The crowd began to loosen up as well (ex. the student section doing the “Left right left right sit down!” chant as Mead got into more foul trouble). By the game’s end, everyone knew that Richland was one game away from the one seed in state--and they all knew who was in their way. But that night was one for celebration, as Streufert, Horntvedt (33 pts/7 trb/5 ast), and Northrop (15/4/9) led the Bombers in a gutsy 81-71 win against a talented Mead team.
Talking with AtomicTV color commentator Ethan Van Beek after the game, he said the Bombers “did a great job attacking the basket basically the entire game, as we saw players like Lance Horntvedt go 10 for 21 from the field and making 11 of 14 free throws while having 33 points… everyone did a great job attacking the interior of the Mead Panthers.”
Richland travels to Gonzaga Prep for the District 6 Championship on Thursday the 20th. Mead enters the elimination bracket and hosts Ferris on Tuesday.
