Prep Notebook / Around The State -- Neill Resigns As Richland Basketball Coach

Phil Neill, who helped maintain the rich basketball tradition of the Richland High School Bombers as a player and coach, is retiring from coaching.

Neill coached 18 years at Richland and compiled a 298-145 record, seven Big Nine titles and one state championship. The Bombers won the 1979 state title when they beat Tri-City rival Pasco, capping a 26-1 season - including 26 consecutive victories. The 1979-80 team won its first 14 games, giving the Bombers a 40-game winning streak.

The Bombers were 12-9 this season.

Neill said he simply felt that "now was the right time to step down and let somebody else take over the program." He said the fact his son, Kevin, will be a junior on next season'steam wasn't a factor in the decision.

Neill had two coaching stints as Richland's coach. He resigned after the 1983-84 season, then returned to coach in the fall of 1988. He will remain a physical education teacher at Richland.

Neill played on Richland teams coached by Art Dawald that finished third at state in 1964 and 1966.

He is the second Big Nine basketball coach to resign in recent weeks. Don Meneely ended his second stint at Kennewick by announcing he was quitting.

Notes

-- Andy Troxel, son of former Kennewick High and University of Idaho coach Ed Troxel, is the new head football coach at Kennewick's Southridge High School. Andy Troxel, who has spent the past six seasons as a Pasco High assistant, takes over a second-year program still searching for its first varsity victory.

-- Warren Hull is the new head football coach at Kennewick High School. Hull, a graduate assistant for Don James at Washington in 1989, was the offensive coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point last fall.