Bring out the brooms: Richland girls, boys both earn wins over Kamiakin on same night

KENNEWICK, Wash. — Kylee Fox is a right-handed shooter for the Richland Bombers.

But every once in a while, she messes around with a left-handed shot in practice.

Never did she think she’d need it in a game.

But in a key situation late in Saturday’s District 8 4A championship game, Fox had to fire up a 23-footer as the shot clock was about to expire.

To everyone’s amazement at Randy Dolven Gymnasium at Kamiakin High School, it went in.

It was a dagger, part of a 15-0 Bombers' run that gave Richland control and eventually a 61-55 victory over the Braves.

“I knew I had to get the shot up. It was a miracle,” said Fox, who finished with 21 points and four assists. “It feels so good to beat them.”

It was the first time Kamiakin (now 20-3) has lost to a Mid-Columbia Conference team this season.

It also gives the Bombers their second consecutive District 8 title.

It also comes at a possible price, as Macie Milum — Richland’s No. 2 scorer — went down in the first quarter with an injury, possibly to her knee.

“It didn’t look good,” said Richland coach Amy Westerfield, whose team is now 18-5.

Despite losing a strong scorer, though, the Bombers were able to stay close and trailed only 29-22 at intermission.

“I told (the girls) to do it for (Macie),” Westerfield said. “She’s part of this team.”

So, Fox definitely needed some scoring help.

“We had multiple people step up,” Fox said. “We did it for (Macie).”

She got it from senior Maggie Smith, who finished with a game-high 24 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

“Smith is tough. She’s a farm girl. She’s from Connell,” Westerfield said. “She’s physical, and she’s always been competitive.”

Smith picked up the slack in the second half, dishing out four assists in that key 15-0 run.

“We got down in that first half,” Smith said. “But we knew what we had to do, which was drive to the top of the key and then kick it out.”

It made up for a late-season loss two weeks ago in the regular season to Kamiakin, when the Bombers led 23-9 at one point, but then fell apart.

“We kind of lost that last game to them in the last two minutes,” said Smith. “Mainly on defense this time, we stayed with who we had to cover and not help so much.”

Nikole Thomas, bound for the University of Memphis next year, led Kamiakin with 19 points.

Kamiakin coach Lane Schumacher was hoping to have a top-eight seed for his Braves when the pairings come out on Sunday. But this loss may hurt those chances.

“We were playing pretty well, up 10 at one point, and then just dropped it,” said Schumacher. “They pulled on us what we’ve done to them, as well as Chiawana, these last few weeks (by rallying back to win). They took it to us. We couldn’t find any rhythm at the end.”

Westerfield was hoping Richland, with the district title, might get into the top eight.

“Last year we were district champions, and we were seeded seventh,” she said.

The Bombers wanted to cut the nets down after the title win, but Kamiakin officials wouldn’t allow it.

So, the team moved the party to Richland, waited for the Bomber boys to beat Kamiakin in a state play-in game, and cut the nets at Dawald Gym with the home fans watching and celebrating.

RICHLAND BOYS 67, KAMIAKIN 51

For 20 minutes on Saturday, the top two MCC seeds battled to almost a draw.

But the host Bombers exploded with a 15-0 run to take control over the last half of the third quarter into the fourth, en route to the victory.

Richland (21-3) qualifies for the Class 4A boys state tournament, while Kamiakin’s season ends at 17-7.

Freshman Landon Northrop and junior Josh Woodard each had 13 points to lead the Bombers, while Jordan Valencia and Jack Forbes added 11 points each.

Dress led Kamiakin with 11 points.