Sunday, Jan. 11, 2009

Jacobs leads Richland boys to victory

By Kevin Anthony, Herald staff writer

KENNEWICK -- Brett Jacobs' January 2008 was spent working out with a trainer, rehabbing an ankle injured during football and, of course, getting in some cuts in the batting cage.

January 2009, though, is a whole other story.

The Richland senior poured in 26 points to account for more than half of his team's output Saturday night in a 51-41 grinder at Kamiakin, the Bombers' fourth straight win.

Richland (8-2, 3-1) won both its CBBN Cascade games this week despite missing double-double machine Calvin Douglas, who is expected back in practice this week as he recovers from his own ankle injury.

"With Cal out, it was big in our mindset to get (both wins) this weekend," said Jacobs, who has signed to play baseball at Washington State.

His line drives were falling into the net against Kamiakin (0-2, 5-5), which has lost three straight. Jacobs canned four 3-pointers, and the Bombers hit 5 of 11 (45 percent) for a big advantage from the perimeter.

"We wanted to force them to take outside shots, and they did a nice job of making them," said Braves coach Brian Meneely, whose team missed it's first 10 3s before Tyler Holle connected with just 23 seconds left.

Kamiakin's zone gave Richland fits and neither team found its shooting touch in the first half. That changed in the third quarter as the Braves buried 5 of 6 shots.

The Bombers hit 3 of 4 on their end to keep pace, but more importantly showed enough patience to work the ball around the perimeter for good shots. With Richland chewing up chunks of clock, Kamiakin was held to just eight shots and went the last four minutes of the quarter without a field goal.

"They key was getting better on offense as the game went on," said Bombers coach Earl Streufert. "We got better every quarter."

A 7-1 run to end the third gave the Bombers a five-point edge that would stretch to 10 during a crucial series midway through the fourth.

Case Rada buried a pair of free throws to pull the Braves within 42-35 and came up with a steal on the other end. But Kamiakin, which starts three sophomores, failed to get a good look at the basket, and the senior-led Bombers once again patiently worked their offense until Michael Dunford zipped a pass to Hayden Hilty for an easy backdoor layup and a three-point play.

Instead of closing within five, the Braves were back down by 10.

"The real big difference in the game were those critical possessions when we didn't get a good shot," Meneely said. "That's a little bit of where experience comes into play, and we can't use that as an excuse."

Jacobs added six boards and has scored in double figures the last four games after averaging about 6.5 ppg to start the season.

"A little of it is being away from the game a little bit," he said of not playing for nearly two years. "It took some time to get used to it, get assertive."

Clint Smith added 11 points and Hilty 10.

For Kamiakin, sophomore Garrett Anderson continued his strong play of late with 14 points and 10 boards. The sophomore forward had 30 points and 22 rebounds on the weekend.

RICHLAND (51)

Brett Jacobs 26, Rowe 2, Smith 11, Hilty 10, Vedder, Radliff, McCargar 2, Dunford, Gallinger. Totals 17-40 12-13 51.

KAMIAKIN (41)

Garrett Anderson 14, Rojas 4, Fletcher 4, Rada 9, En'Wezoh 4, Hayfield, Holle 6. Totals 15-41 10-15 41.

Richland 12 10 14 15 -- 51

Kamiakin 10 9 12 10 -- 41

Highlights -- Jacobs 6 rebs; Anderson 10 rebs.