The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WALLA WALLA-The Walla Walla boys varsity basketball team played their rivals the Richland Bombers in a conference game Friday January 24th. In the first quarter #12 Dillon Wasser got things started for the Walla Walla Blue Devils hitting a three-pointer. #10 Michael Cornia made his presence felt early with a blocked shot. Four of the five starters scored in the 1st quarter to give the Blue Devils the lead 16-10 at the end of the 1st quarter.

In the 2nd quarter Richland came out shooting hot. Four Richland players would combine for five three-pointers on their way to scoring 24 points in the quarter. At one point in the quarter Richland went on an eleven-point run to take the lead 27-22. They would finish the first half up 34-29.

Walla Walla started the 3rd quarter missing their first four shots in a row before #2 Dylan Ashbeck got them on the board to make the score 31-36 Bombers. The Blue Devils offense picked up from this point. Dillon Wasser's fifth three-pointer of the game tied the score at 39-39 and you could feel the momentum shift in Walla Walla's favor. The very next possession Michael Cornia beat his defender to the rim to retake the lead at 41-39. At the end of the third quarter Walla Walla held the lead at 48-47.

The Blue Devils showed in the 4th quarter how quickly they can put away a team. With the score 51-51 they went on a fifteen-point run. First, they hit three-pointers on three consecutive possessions by #30 Brandon Smith, Dillon Wasser (his seventh of the game,) and #24 Jacob Coram. Then they scored the next six straight points punctuated by a break-away dunk for Michael Cornia. With the score now 66-51, Richland would manage one last three-pointer before time ran away giving Walla Walla the win 66-54.

Coach Adam Berg had this to say about his team's effort. "Pretty good. Yeah we knew we had a battle for 32 minutes that's the way they play, how hard they play. Got a little rattled there in the first half and really good in the second half. We kind of came together. The effort was great."

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total

Richland 10 24 13 7 54

Walla Walla 16 13 19 18 66

Scoring

WW: Dylan Ashbeck 7, Michael Cornia 17, Dillon Wasser 23, Diego Jaques 8, Robert Watson 3, Jacob Coram 3, Brandon Smith 5.