Gonzaga Prep's fourth quarter rally thwarted by substitution technical; Richland wins first title since 1979 | State 4A boys

The Gonzaga Prep and Richland boys basketball teams share a rich history for being members of different leagues. The Bullpups and Bombers have met 53 times over the years, with G-Prep holding a slight advantage on the overall rivalry at 29-24 and a bigger one, at 16-3, in the postseason.

And both teams are coached by future Hall of Famers: G-Prep’s Matty McIntyre – with four state titles since 2011, and Richland’s Earl Streufert, with 491 wins over 27 seasons – who entering play Saturday was still in search of his first state championship.

Streufert has to look no longer.

The Bullpups held Richland to nearly 30 points below their season scoring average – but it wasn’t enough – and the Bombers beat the Bullpups 63-49 in the State 4A championship game at Tacoma Dome to finish undefeated for Streufert’s first title – and the program’s fourth overall and first since 1979.

Richland entered play Saturday averaging 91.3 points per game, with 10 100-point games this season. But the Bullpups only surrendered 44.9 points per game this season and held the Bombers to their two lowest scoring games – Richland’s 65-53 win over G-Prep in the District 6 4A championship game and the state title game.

“I love our kids, and winning or losing isn’t going to detract from everything that they’ve done,” McIntyre said. “What a courageous effort today and all season long. And I’m just very grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to coach such great young men.”

Jack Pierce scored a career-high 24 points, on 9-of-15 shooting and 8 of 10 at the line, added five rebounds and three steals. Lance Horntvedt led Richland (28-0) with 24 points, Landen Northrop had 17 and Josiah Scacco added 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Pierce, who has signed to play defensive back for Central Washington in the fall, spoke for the seven seniors on the Bullpups roster. 

“This is tough,” he said through tears. “This is a group of guys I’ve gotten so close with throughout high school, even started in middle school – like, our first camp together, our first summer together. This is a group of guys I never wanted to be done with, and I’m just really proud of how we overcame all the ups and downs over the year.”

“Jack has the heart of a lion. What a true competitor. He hates to lose, but he loves to win even more,” McIntyre said. “He’s the one that was the catalyst to get us back into the game. We wouldn’t have been where we were without him.”

But it was not without controversy. 

The Bullpups (21-7) trailed by 11 at halftime and seven entering the fourth quarter. But they kept playing tough defense and chipping away on offense, and Pierce made it a four-point game with 2 minutes, 43 seconds to go with a drive through traffic and a layup high off the glass.

“We were never out of it,” McIntyre said. “And I thought at the tail end, we were down six with the ball. I mean, we were clawing, scrapping, fighting back.”

Richland scored to put it back to six, and G-Prep’s Dylynn Groves, who missed his entire junior season with a knee injury, struggled to limp off the floor in obvious discomfort with 2:30 to go. But as play was about to resume, Streufert called the officials over.

After a nearly 15-minute discussion, first with game officials and then Washington Interscholastic Activities Association staff huddling behind the bench, it was announced that Richland had officially protested the Gonzaga Prep substitution when Groves came out of the game.

Eventually, the Bullpups’ bench was assessed an administrative technical foul for illegal substitution, and Northrop was sent to the line for two and made both. With the ball after the technical foul, the Bombers made it a 10-point lead at 56-46 when Northrop was fouled by Pierce and he made two more free throws.

Pierce hit a 3 to get the deficit back to seven with 1:31 to go, but the Bombers made three of four at the line, added a dunk at the horn, and held on to claim the state title.

“We were making a serious run at it,” McIntyre said. “I would love to have seen it unfold without, you know, what transpired there at the end. But credit to Richland. They were tough, they were physical. They shoot the heck out of the basketball.”

“My heart hurts so bad for Dylynn – he wanted this so bad,” Pierce said. “And for him to go down in the championship game like that, I know it’s something you never want to have to deal with, but it’s so tough because he left it all out there on the floor.”

Pierce took a loose ball coast-to-coast for the game’s first points nearly two minutes in. He drove for another layup late and the Bullpups trailed 15-10 after one. 

In the second quarter, Horntvedt got loose inside for a jam to put the Bombers up 20-10. Richland’s Jackson Woodard added a pair of 3-pointers, Gonzaga Prep only had five made field goals in the first half – on 25 attempts, and the Bombers led 28-17 at the intermission. 

“We were down by 11, but I didn’t feel horrible about it,” McIntyre said. “We missed some shots that maybe we should have made, but we were really trying to pound it inside.”

Pierce had the first bucket of the second half on a driving layup through traffic. A pair of Groves free throws made it a 10-point game with four minutes left in the third, then Pierce made another contested layup and hit the bonus to make it 37-30.

He made two more from the line, then Groves (eight points, five rebounds) backed in and banked one in to get the deficit to five. But Scacco converted a three-point play and added a layup, and Richland led 44-37 entering the fourth. 

In the final period, the Bullpups got the deficit to five four times and four once – but no closer.

“This one’s gonna hurt for a while,” Pierce said. “You know, that’s my last basketball game I’ll ever play, and so that’s really tough, but I’m thankful for all of it.”

“As time passes, they’ll be able to look back and grasp what they’ve accomplished and the pain of this experience will fade,” McIntyre said. “I’m sure they’ll look back on this with a lot of fond memories playing with their buddies. But as a tight knit group, we love each other. I love them, and they’re very inspiring. They inspire me.”