Kamiakin surges late to race past Richland
The Mid-Columbia Conference’s top-two scorers were at their finest as Oumou Toure scored a game-high 28 points with 11 rebounds, and Alexa Hazel buried 3 of 5 triples for 20 points to lead the Kamiakin High School girls basketball team to a 78-51 win Saturday over the visiting Richland Bombers.
The victory kept the No. 3 Braves (11-1, 6-0) as the only team with an unblemished record in MCC play.
Shooting kept the first half from getting away from the Bombers (5-7, 3-3), but the Braves’ pressure eventually cracked the game open a bit. Kamiakin went on a 17-3 run — aided by a few of their 10 first-half takeaways — to lead 30-18 early in the second quarter, then took a 45-36 advantage into intermission on a last-second layup by Chanceler Williams.
Kamiakin played some lockdown defense after halftime and held Richland to eight points in the third quarter to lead 62-43 at the beginning of the fourth; a margin that proved plenty big enough to put the game into cruise control.
Nicole Gall paced the Richland offense with 19 points, 15 of which came in the first half. She also tied Toure for the game-high of 11 boards.
UP NEXT
Richland: There’s no reprieve in the schedule, as the Bombers host Chiawana (8-3, 4-1 entering Saturday’s games) at 5:45 p.m. Friday. Chiawana won the last meeting 54-46 on Dec. 15 in Pasco.
Kamiakin: Travels up 395 to take on Pasco for the first time this season at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday.
RICHLAND: Webb 4, Garza 8, Ja.Clark 2, Smith 2, H.Pierce 4, Nicole Gall 19, Stevens 5, Jo.Clark, Wellsandt, G.Pierce 7, Holm. Totals: 20-69 6-12 51
KAMIAKIN: Scherbarth 6, Re.Clark 2, Westermeyer, Ry.Clark 8, Alexa Hazel 20, C.Williams 8, Oumou Toure 28, Mercado, J.Williams. Totals: 33-76 8-16 78
Richland | 18 | 18 | 8 | 8 | — | 51 |
Kamiakin | 22 | 23 | 18 | 16 | — | 78 |
Highlights: R, Gall 11 reb, 3 ast. K, Toure 11 reb, 3 blk, 3 stl, 3 ast; Regan Clark 4 ast.
Dustin Brennan: 509-582-1413, @Tweet_By_Dustin
This story was originally published January 6, 2018 at 7:39 PM with the headline "Kamiakin surges late to race past Richland."