MCC scoring champ joins the 1K club. His Richland Bombers are trying to go to 22-0

Most teams that have five players averaging at or near double-digit points per game can’t produce the league’s scoring champ; there just aren’t enough touches to go around.

But most teams aren’t the Richland Bombers. And most guys can’t score it like Cole Northrop.

Northrop, a junior, edged Kennewick’s Jenner Norwood for the top spot in the MCC by averaging 19.4 points per game during the regular season. He then surpassed 1,000 for his career with 13 points on Wednesday in a 79-44 win over University to open the district playoffs, pushing his career total to 1,011.

“Throughout the season, I didn’t know I was that close to it, but once I got within like 20 points, I saw people tweeting about it,” Northrop said. “It’s neat to have it, but at the same time, I’ve been here for three years, I’ve been around for awhile, so it just kind of felt like a normal game.”

Shooting has never been a problem for Northrop, and he’s added 50 3-pointers to his career total so far this season. But what’s made him such a valuable asset for the undefeated MCC champion Bombers has been becoming a well-rounded player, with his dribbling, passing, finishing and defending improving steadily over the past three seasons.

“My defense, my overall game really, has improved,” he said. “My driving and everything, that’s improved a lot, really.”

As impressive an accomplishment as scoring 1,000 career points is in high school, there wasn’t a lot of fanfare when Northrop hit the mark early in the first quarter against U-Hi.

“I had a guy ask me what we were gonna do when he scores 1,000 points, and I said ‘a firm handshake and an ‘atta boy,’ ” Richland coach Earl Streufert said. “Because our program has always been based on the whole team and not the individual.

“The thousand-point milestone is a big one, not a lot of guys have done it, though we’ve had several. It speaks to his ability as a scorer, and also his teammates’ ability to get him the ball.”

A CHANCE TO ADVANCE

Ranked No. 4 in RPI, Richland will look to win its 22nd consecutive game and guarantee a spot in the regional round of the state playoffs against the No. 6 Ferris Saxons at 6 p.m. Saturday at Art Dawald Gymnasium in the District 8 4A semifinals.

The teams played an epic two-game playoff series last season, with the Bombers winning both fixtures on their home floor, including a 66-64 victory in a winner-to-state, loser-out contest.

The Saxons are led by the same core they had last season with seniors Shamrock Campbell (a 6-foot-1 guard averaging nearly 20 points per game) and Mike Ervin (6-4 guard/forward averaging 12 points). Offensively, they shoot the ball better than most, and on defense, their combination of a press in the full court and different zone looks past the time line could cause problems for the Bombers, Streufert said.

“The zone could affect us a little bit, but I don’t know that they can take away everything,” he said. “We’ve been shooting the ball really well, all of our starters are shooting 50 percent, except for Cole who’s at 48. I don’t think they can be content to just sit back and let us shoot the 3.

“And when you get across half court against these guys, you have to punish them by taking it to the rim.”

In other 4A district action Saturday night, the MCC co-champion Chiawana girls host Lewis and Clark at 6 p.m. in a semifinal contest with the winner guaranteed a regional spot. The other semifinals include the Chiawana boys at undefeated GSL champion Gonzaga Prep, and the University girls at Central Valley.

Elimination games for the night are: University boys at Walla Walla, 7 p.m.; Pasco boys at Lewis and Clark, 4 p.m.; Gonzaga Prep girls at Walla Walla, 5 p.m.; and Pasco girls at Richland, 4 p.m.

This story was originally published February 9, 2018 at 11:10 PM with the headline "MCC scoring champ joins the 1K club. His Richland Bombers are trying to go to 22-0."