By Vince Grippi, NWPrepsNow.com
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There are many ways a team can pressure its opponent in a basketball game.
The state’s second-ranked 4A boys team, the Richland Bombers, does it with its offense.
“They’ve got a lot of weapons,” Ferris coach Don VanLierop said after the Bombers earned their spot in the state tournament with an 81-64 win over the host Saxons on Friday night.
Most of those weapons bomb away from the outside, no matter the situation.
Richland, at 22-0 one of only eight unbeaten Washington boys teams in all classifications, hit 13 of 24 3-pointers through three quarters.
The 13th was Drew McCullough’s buzzer-beating 22-footer in transition that gave the Bombers a 63-52 lead heading into the final 8 minutes.
It also stunted a Ferris rally that seconds before had cut a 14-point lead to eight.
It was McCullough’s only long-range shot, though he joined Richland’s other starters in double figures, scoring 12 points.
Guards Payton Radiff (a team-high 21 points) had five 3-pointers and Jacob DeVries (17) and Steven Beo (12) added three apiece.
Only Bombers 6-foot-7 post Nathan Streufert didn’t connect from outside the arc and he still finished with 16 points.
The Saxons’ defense disrupted Richland a bit, especially early in the fourth quarter.
That’s when Ferris (18-4 and ranked sixth in the 4A) turned two of the Bombers’ 13 total turnovers into seven Cody Benzel points – the senior finished with a game-high 23 – and cut the lead to 72-61 with 3:22 left.
But Richland scored the next eight points, six coming on leak-out layups off Ferris’ misses, and the Bombers were on to regionals.
“I liked our effort,” VanLierop said. “No problem with that. That was playoff-caliber effort.
“You’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game to beat them. We had periods of ‘A.’ But not enough.”
The Saxons’ 6-foot-9 senior post, Jensen Rye, worked inside for 14 points.
Ferris will host Gonzaga Prep at 7 tonight with a regional berth on the line. It will be the fourth meeting between the teams, with the Bullpups winning the first two.
