Richland’s Beo is All-Area boys basketball player of the year

The Richland Bombers’ hopes of getting back to the Class 4A boys state basketball tournament ran out against Gonzaga Prep in the subregionals.

No one might have been more disappointed than four-year starter Steven Beo, who played at state the previous three seasons. But he wasn’t as sad for himself as he was for his teammates.

“He never looked at the scoreboard to see how many points he had, but to see how many points we had,” Richland coach Earl Streufert said. “That’s really the key with him. He’s very talented, not just humble, but really focused on the team and not on himself.”

A lot of eyes have been locked on Beo, a two-time Tri-City Herald All-Area player of the year, during his Richland career.

He was a sophomore on the 2013-14 team that went 25-1, with its only loss in the state championship game against Garfield. He was the Bombers’ only underclassman that season.

Once that team’s seven seniors graduated, including the high-scoring trio of Payton Radliff, Nathan Streufert and Jacob DeVries, Beo became an offensive monster. He went from 12 points a game as a sophomore to averaging about 27 points in each of his final two seasons.

“He was on a couple of really good teams earlier on,” Walla Walla coach John Golden said. “He could come in and hit some long shots and have some assists and get some rebounds. He has refined other parts of his game. He’s a scorer. He’s a volume shooter, and that’s what they relied on him to do is score.”

But he continued to be a top contributor in other statistical categories, averaging 6.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists as a senior.

Beo is joined on the All-Area first team by fellow Richland guard Landon Radliff (18.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5.2 apg, 2.9 spg); Grandview guard-forward Gunner Chronis (28.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg); Kamiakin center Hayden Nelson (15.1 ppg, 8.7 rpg); and Chiawana guard Cayden Cazier (14 ppg, 6 reb, 5.5 apg, 2 spg). All are seniors except for Chronis, a sophomore.

Beo and Radliff had a somewhat young, inexperienced group around them, but the Bombers went undefeated in the Mid-Columbia Conference and won the district championship.

Richland finished the season 18-5, ending with subregional tournament losses to Central Valley — a game in which Beo scored 48 points — and to Gonzaga Prep, which went on to place third at state.

“It’s a roller coaster of emotions,” Beo said. “In the Central Valley game, super excited going into overtime, super confident in ourselves, and then it just doesn’t go our way. Everyone’s really down and disappointed, and then get up the next day and have to get all hyped up again for another game. And then that turned out the way it did, and go back to being sad again. It was emotional.”

And a tough way for Beo to wrap up his high school career.

“Honestly, sometimes I still have trouble processing that it’s all over because the last four years of my life have been Bomber basketball,” Beo said. “I’m mainly focusing on all the great memories I’ve had with all the guys, the coaches and all the experiences we’ve had together, just really trying to be thankful for all that I have, and have done.”

Beo says much of the credit for his development these past four years goes to Streufert, the All-Area coach of the year.

“The biggest lesson coach Streufert has taught me is probably being able to be a leader out on the court,” Beo said. “I was never the most vocal person, so he taught me other ways I could lead through different aspects of the game, not just having to get up in someone’s face.”

The next challenge ahead of Beo is scaling the ladder of Division I basketball. He will be a freshman next season at BYU.

“I’m just using it to motivate me,” Beo said. “Super excited about next year — nervous at the same time, but mostly excited. I’m not sad about starting from the bottom again. I’m just going to go in there and do what I always do and try to win ballgames.”

He was hugely successful in that mission with the Bombers. The past four Richland teams had a combined record of 80-18 (.816).

Streufert, who has been the Bombers’ coach since 1999, knows that wouldn’t have been possible without Beo.

“He’s a consummate team player, and his focus was on whatever we asked him to do,” Streufert said. “I think his legacy is he’s one of the greatest Richland players of all time.”

This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Richland’s Beo is All-Area boys basketball player of the year."