Richland High Bombers, Streufert set to make history on Tuesday night
It’s always been about the team for Earl Streufert and his staff.
So don’t expect any big celebration if Streufert’s Richland Bombers boys basketball team beats Hanford on Tuesday night at Art Dawald Gym.
A win by the Bombers would give Streufert his 405th victory as Richland’s head coach, giving him one more than what Dawald had in his career at Richland High.
“We don’t give out 1000-point basketballs to career scorers, and we’ be had six or seven of them,” said Streufert on Sunday afternoon. “This isn’t about you.”
It’s about the program, he says. It’s about the players. And it’s about the assistant coaches.
“It’s about Bruce Robertson, Jim Castleberry. It’s about Phil Neill,” Streufert said. “That 405 (wins), that’s a community number.”
Still, it’s a pretty remarkable achievement.
In his 23rd season as Richland’s head coach, Streufert has a 404-178 record. Dawald, in 22 seasons, was 404-154.
Streufert tied Dawald on Saturday night, when the Bombers rolled over Pasco 79-27. In that game, Josh Woodard scored a game-high 22 points, while freshman Landon Northrop added 14 more.
Streufert and his team have bigger fish to fry, trying to get ready for a big postseason run.
“We’re getting better,” he said. “We’re trying to get over the hump. We’ve got a couple of guys who can play better. And we’ve got a couple of weeks to do it.”
Spoken like a true coach.
In this season’s earlier matchup against Hanford, Richland beat the Falcons 106-40.
Currently, the Bombers are 9-0 in Mid-Columbia Conference play, 11-2 overall, and are riding a 10-game winning streak.
Tip-off for Tuesday’s home game against Hanford is at 7:30 p.m.
▪ Here are the MCC boys basketball standings through games of Saturday, Jan. 21:
Richland 9-0 MCC, 11-2 overall
Kamiakin 8-2, 10-4
Kennewick 6-4, 10-4
Chiawana 6-4, 8-6
Walla Walla 6-4, 7-7
Hermiston 4-6, 6-8
Southridge 3-6, 5-8
Hanford 2-8, 2-12
Pasco 0-10, 0-13
Friday, Jan. 20 — Chiawana 72, Southridge 53; Kamiakin 67, Hermiston 40; Kennewick 63, Hanford 39; Walla Walla 74, Pasco 47.
Saturday, Jan. 21 — Kamiakin 71, Chiawana 70; Kennewick 70, Hermiston 60; Richland 79, Pasco 27; Walla Walla 62, Hanford 48.
Tuesday, Jan. 24 (all games start at 7:30 p.m.) — Chiawana at Kennewick; Hanford at Richland; Hermiston at Walla Walla; Southridge at Kamiakin.
Friday, Jan. 27 (all games start at 7:30 p.m.) — Kennewick at Southridge; Pasco at Hanford; Richland at Hermiston; Walla Walla at Chiawana.
KAMIAKIN 71, CHIAWANA 70
Took in the Kamiakin at Chiawana boys-girls doubleheader on Saturday and came away impressed with all four teams.
As for the boys game, it seems that when Chiawana, Kamiakin and Richland play each other, these contests are knock-down fights.
“There is a lot of pride in these programs,” said Kamiakin boys coach Brian Meneely. “And there are a lot of good players on these teams.”
In the boys game, there were six lead changes between the Braves and the Riverhawks. Kamiakin had the biggest lead at 12 points (55-43 in the second half).
But Chiawana battled back hard, led by senior Mason Castillo’s game-high 23 points.
“I told these guys (after the game) I like their fight,” said Chiawana head coach Chad Herron. “They showed some grit. These guys are spirited, and we’re at the part of the season where we need to play our best.”
The key plays of the game were back-to-back layups by Kamiakin’s Fabian Hernandez, off of assists each time from Javier Sideregts, that extended the Braves’ lead from 63-62 to 67-62.
But the Riverhawks furiously tried to catch the Braves in the final minute.
Tyson Landoni scored off of an assist from Castillo. Then Castillo himself sank a 3-point field goal, followed by a 3-point play.
Castillo also got a good look as time expired for another 3, but it bounced off of the rim.
Meneely said his team needs to improve on finishing its layups, but he liked what he saw on the court.
“We’re playing three games a week right now,” he said. “What you’re looking for is growth. In every game and every practice, five days a week.”
Peter Dress led the Braves with 19 points, while Hernandez and Sideregts each added 13.
MCC Girls
Kamiakin maintained its unblemished MCC record by hanging on to beat a young and talented Chiawana squad 49-48.
The Braves ended up scoring the contest’s final five points to get the win.
Senior Nikole Thomas dished off to a wide-open Maddy Rendall, who sank a 3-point field goal with 14.7 seconds left to give Kamiakin its first lead of the game at 47-46.
Aubrey Herrin would sink two free throws with 9.2 seconds left to complete the scoring.
“I told the girls after the game, ‘Do you know how long we had the lead? It was 14.7 seconds,’” said Kamiakin coach Lane Schumacher. “We were coming off of a tough road game the night before (in Hermiston), and Chiawana punched us in the mouth.”
That was from the get-go.
The Riverhawks led at one point in the first quarter 17-2, as Kaia Foster scored 7 points and Malia Ruud added 5 more.
But slowly, the Braves started cutting into that deficit. They were down 25-19 at the half, and trailed 34-29 after three quarters.
“We just had to weather the storm, basically,” said Thomas. “I think sometimes our biggest problem is ourselves.”
Both Thomas and Rendall took control in the fourth quarter, with Thomas scoring 6 points, grabbing a rebound, and dishing off that big assist to Rendall.
Rendall had 8 points in the quarter, with two treys, including the last one.
Ruud had another huge game for the Riverhawks, scoring 17 points, grabbing 18 rebounds, and blocking 4 shots.
Foster added 16 points.
▪ Here are the MCC girls basketball standings through games of Jan. 21:
Kamiakin 10-0 MCC, 12-2 overall
Richland 7-2, 9-4
Chiawana 7-3, 8-6
Kennewick 7-3, 8-6
Walla Walla 5-4, 6-6
Hermiston 4-6, 6-9
Hanford 2-7, 5-8
Southridge 1-8, 2-11
Pasco 0-10, 0-14
Friday, Jan. 20 — Chiawana 54, Southridge 37; Kamiakin 79, Hermiston 63; Kennewick 80, Hanford 43; Walla Walla 75, Pasco 51.
Saturday, Jan. 21 — Kamiakin 49, Chiawana 48; Kennewick 74, Hermiston 69; Richland 71, Pasco 20; Walla Walla 66, Hanford 60 (OT).
Tuesday, Jan. 24 (all games start at 5:45 p.m.) — Chiawana at Kennewick; Hanford at Richland; Hermiston at Walla Walla; Southridge at Kamiakin.
Friday, Jan. 27 (all games start at 5:45 p.m.) — Kennewick at Southridge; Pasco at Hanford; Richland at Hermiston; Walla Walla at Chiawana.