Let it fly: Richland’s shooters turn Tacoma Dome into 3-point showcase
Earl Streufert doesn’t like to micromanage his basketball team. His philosophy for the Richland offense? Play loose and let it fly.
“We’re pretty free,” Streufert said after No. 2 Richland put on an offensive clinic in an 83-70 win over No. 3 Lake Washington in Friday night’s semifinal at the Tacoma Dome. “We always tell our guys, ‘You gotta be you.’ They’ve built themselves into a pretty good offensive squad.”
Of course, that’s easy to say when “you” is a bunch of knockdown, machine-like shooters that bury 3-pointers whether they’re wide open or tightly contested.
Wondering how electric this Richland offense is? The Bombers shot 50.9 percent from the field in Friday’s win. They shot 48.1 percent from the 3-point line. Guard Jackson Woodard buried seven 3-pointers and scored a game-high 30 points. The team’s usual top two scorers, Landen Northrop and Lance Horndvedt, scored 24 and 20, respectively.
83 points, nearly 50 percent from beyond the arc and three players with 20 or more points. Does that sum it up? Asked to describe Richland’s offense in his own words, Woodard didn’t need time to think.
“Deadly, man,” he told The News Tribune.
Lake Washington guard Jayden Hunt impressed, scoring a team-high 28 points. Guard Omer Ziklik added 20 for the Kangs. But every time Lake Washington went on a small run and started closing the gap, Richland put another ball through the net.
It felt almost surreal at times, hard to believe a high school basketball team could be so dangerous from so many different spots on the floor.
“I think it’s just a lot of practice,” Woodard said. “We just run and gun. I feel like we always play fast paced, so I think it’s just knowing where the hoop is, we let it go and shoot it.”
And the crowd? You never would’ve guessed it was a four-hour, 214 mile drive. The Richland side was packed with green and yellow and the most impressive student section in the Dome so far, both in terms of size and noise.
Richland faces defending state champion Gonzaga Prep in Saturday’s championship game. It’s the second title game appearance in two years, as the Bombers also played in the 2024 title game, losing to Mount Si. Woodard was a freshman riding the bench that year, watching his older brother, Josh, in the starting lineup.
