Mid-Columbian among the best steer wrestlers in pro rodeo cowboys’ National Finals Rodeo
Dalton Massey of Hermiston has had a heck of a rodeo season in 2023.
The 30-year-old Massey has been a member of the PRCA since 2014 and has gotten gradually better each year in his event, steer wrestling.
In 2020, he earned about $28,800 in his event, while he collected over $55,000 in 2021.
But things really started to click in 2022, with five event victories — including the Columbia River Circuit Finals in Redmond, Ore., for a season total earnings of about $67,000.
This year, Massey is having his best season ever, and is competing at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas this week.
Massey leads all steer wrestlers this season with seven wins, including a victory in RodeoHouston in Texas. He has earned over $246,000 this season.
The NFR, which started on Dec. 7, ends this Saturday, Dec. 16.
Prep basketball
Todd Schumacher’s Columbia-Burbank boys basketball team won’t be sneaking up on anyone this season.
The Coyotes are ranked No. 1 in Scorebook Live Washington’s latest 2B boys prep poll.
Tri-Cities Prep is also in the latest poll, ranked No. 7 in the same 2B ranking.
Richland’s boys are ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 4A boys coaches poll. Kamiakin isn’t ranked, but the Braves did receive some votes.
Mount Si is the No. 1-ranked team in 4A in that poll.
In 2A, while Anacortes has the top spot, Grandview (6-0) is ranked No. 4, and Prosser (3-1) is No. 5.
Garfield is the top ranked Class 3A team, while Lynden Christian is No. 1 in the boys 1A poll. Wahluke and Kiona-Benton received votes in the 1A poll but weren’t ranked.
In SB Live’s first 1B boys poll this week, DeSales gets the nod at No. 1, while Sunnyside Christian is ranked No. 6.
SB Live has yet to release girls polls in 4A, 3A and 2A, but the lower classification rankings are out.
In 2B girls, Colfax is ranked No. 1, while Warden is second, and Mabton is eighth.
In 1B girls, Neah Bay is No. 1, while Sunnyside Christian garners the 10th spot.
Nooksack Valley earned the top spot in the first 1A girls poll.
▪ Prosser’s girls team will be good again this season, even though Kyler Bachofner isn’t the head coach there anymore.
He’s now running the Class 4A Lake Stevens program.
But the Mustangs, who placed third at the 2A state tournament last March, are off to a 4-0 start under new head coach Jessica Huntington.
In a 73-67 overtime victory over Kennewick on Tuesday night (Dec. 5), Lay’lee Dixon and freshman Herbie Wright each had 22 points for Prosser.
Wright could be a special player.
Sean Hall, the stats guru for Prosser sports, mentioned the previous week that Wright’s first game on varsity — a 79-60 win over Hermiston on Nov. 28 — she scored 23 points in her debut.
According to Hall’s research, Wright’s 23 might be the most points ever for a varsity freshman debut.
Even the great Kelly Blair only scored 12 points in her first varsity contest.
▪ While the Richland boys lost to Middleton of Idaho in their first game of a new event — the Bomber Classic — Richland bounced back Saturday afternoon (Dec. 9) with a 79-61 win over a tough Camas team.
In that game, sophomore Landon Northrop sank seven of 10 treys to finish with a game-high 29 points.
Northrop was key in a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter to help Richland pull away. He scored 9 points in that run — and added another 3 as the Bombers pulled away to finish the game on a 22-2 run.
Senior Jack Forbes added 12 points and 10 rebounds; while senior post Luke Westerfield had 11 points and 7 rebounds.
“Luke demanded the ball inside,” said Richland head coach Earl Streufert. “That really got us going.”
Senior Josh Woodard is the guy that makes this team go, and his numbers Saturday proved that: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 5 steals.
“It was kind of a reversal of the night before (a 68-61 loss to Middleton in which the Idaho team had a 25-6 fourth quarter to pull away),” said Streufert. “All in all, we did better.”
The past few years, Streufert has taken his team to Utah for a three-day tournament to open the season. But he wanted to showcase his team, and this tournament, to local fans. In addition, three of the four teams involved brought their lower-level squads to get games in.
“The response was good,” he said. “We just wanted to put on a good show.”
Mount Spokane — which should be one of the state’s top 3A teams this year — was the fourth participant in the event.
“I’d like to get it to six or eight teams, which would make it a Thursday-Friday-Saturday event,” said Streufert, who by the way, coached his 600th career game last Saturday.
The Bombers, now 2-1, have two more non-league contests — they beat Pasco 89-35 on Dec. 5 in Mid-Columbia Conference play.
Richland plays at Davis on Dec. 29, then is scheduled to take on Eastside Catholic next month in a Martin Luther King Day contest.
College basketball
Richland’s Kylee Fox has made a smooth transition from high school basketball to the college game.
Fox, a true freshman, has been starting from the beginning of the season for Fresno State University.
Through nine games, the Bulldogs are 6-3, and Fox is averaging 8.3 points a game. The outstanding shooter has connected on 16 3-point field goals out of 38 attempts for a 42 percent mark.
In addition, her 20 steals lead the team, and she’s second on the squad with 11 assists.
Fox was also named the Mountain West Conference women’s basketball freshman of the week recently after she scored 19 points (making five treys) in a game against Portland.
Boys wrestling
Highlight at the Bob Mars Invite boys wrestling tournament on Dec. 2 at Kennewick High:
Toppenish boys team champ with 342 points, followed by Chiawana in second with 200, and Wapato third at 144.5 points.
Four Mid-Columbia wrestlers earned individual titles: Hanford junior Asa Knutson at 190 pounds; Walla Walla senior Carter O’Dell at 165; Chiawana senior Jordan Tobias at 157; and Hanford senior Caden Wilson at 175.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
