Wildcats take second straight state crown

Colton girls hoist the golden ball for the second year in a row after rolling over Almira/Coulee/Hartline 64-34 in Saturday night’s marquee match-up. Kelsey Moser, lifting the trophy, is the lone senior on the Wildcat team.

The unstoppable force that has been Colton girls basketball the last two years boils down to one credo: Just Work Harder. The hard chargers from the Snake River breaks followed that ethic through the season took it up a notch for last week’s 1B championship repeat at Yakima’s SunDome.

“I’m real proud of these girls,” said Coach Clark Vining. “They really worked hard all year to get to this point. This is no accident.”

While the Wildcats put an intense, driving offense on their state’ opponents they sometimes seemed to rush their shots just to get to the other end of the court and play defense.

“Yeah, I don’t think they like playing offense,” said Vining.

Colton’s defense left state opponents off track. The Wildcats’ margin of victory averaged more than 42 points.

“Offense comes and goes, but defense is always there,” said forward Kelsey Moser, the team’s lone senior. “The only way to win is with good team defense.”

For Moser and six of her teammates, including younger sister and Tournament MVP Haley, Saturday night’s coronation was their second in a row.

Colton won the Golden Ball by putting the brakes on powerful Almira/Coulee/Hartline 64-34. The Warriors had advanced to the finals after averaging a marginal victory of more than 12 points over Pateros, Sunnyside Christian and St. John/Endicott in the first three games.

“How did you guys beat St. John?” a Colton fan yelled to the ACH squad during the first quarter.

The Eagles are the only team to beat Colton in two years.

The state final included little in the way of suspense. Powered by junior Mollie Kramer’s 21 points, the ‘cats staked a 17-6 lead in the opening stanza, and never let the Warriors fire up.

ACH shot 29 percent from the floor and turned the ball over 18 times. Colton turned that into 21 points.

Final count was 64-34 for Colton. Kramer hit all four of her three point attempts. The Wildcats sunk 11 threebies.

Warrior Madeline Issak, tagged “superwoman” by the Yakima Herald after her 26-point performance against Sunnyside Christian Thursday, ended with just eight points against the Colton defense.

Colton’s closest game was their Friday night 43-20 win against Columbia of Hunters. Under Coach Roy Graffis, who won a boys title at Oakesdale in 1973, the Lions cooled the Wildcats’ offense, but they turned over the ball 27 times and hit just 22 percent.

McKenzie Heaslet worked her paint space for a team high 14 points and 12 rebounds. Krista Colvin had 15 points for Hunters. She was the first to bag double figures against the ‘cats.

Colton outscored their first two opponents by a combined 155-33.

Thursday, Haley Moser’s five 3-pointers and 23 points pushed Colton to a 76-18 win over Bickleton.

Bickleton shot just 17 percent. They turned the ball 39 times.

In Wednesday’s opener, Kings Way Christian Knights were shut out until well into the third quarter. The Wildcats rolled 79-15.

Kelsey Moser hit 20 points, bagged nine rebounds and picked three of Colton’s 21 steals.

SATURDAY

Colton 64- Almira/Coulee/Hartline 34: 17/6 21/9 14/7 12/12: Mollie Kramer 7 (4-3pt.) 3-4 21, Haley Moser 5 (3pt.) 1-2 15, Kelsey Moser 5 (3pt.) 0-0 11, McKenzie Heaslet 4 (3pt.) 1-6 10, Erin Weber 1 (3pt.) 0-0 3, Payton Meyer 1 0-0 2, Grace Druffel 0 1-2 1, Kaitlin Druffel 0 1-2 1. ACH: Nikki Osborne 2 6-11 10, Sarah Gloyn 4 (2-3pt.) 0-0 10, Madeline Isaak 3 (2-3pt.) 0-0 8, Allison Fox 1 0-0 2, Karlee Martin 1 0-0 2, Kodi Noggles 1 0-0 2.

FRIDAY

Colton 40- Columbia Hunters 23: 7/8 15/6 5/6 13/3: Heaslet 6 (3pt.) 1-2 14, H. Moser 4 (3pt.) 0-0 9, Kramer 3 2-6 8, K. Moser 2 2-4 6, Nygreen 0 3-4 3. Hunters: Colvin 5 (2-3pt.) 3-4 15, Loe 1 1-4 3, Kieffer 1 0-0 2, Parrow 1 0-0 2, Larrew 0 1-2 1.

THURSDAY

Colton 76- Bickleton 18: 20/1 16/9 24/3 16/5: H. Moser 7 (5-3pt.) 4-6 23, Kramer 5 (2-3pt.) 0-1 12, K. Druffel 2 (2-3pt.) 0-0 6, Meyer 3 0-0 6, K. Moser 3 0-2 6, Dahmen 2 (3pt.) 0-0 5, G. Druffel 1 (3pt.) 2-2 5, Heaslet 2 0-0 4, Nygreen 1 (3pt.) 1-2 4,Vincent 1 (3pt.) 0-0 3, Smith 0 2-2 2. Bickleton: Clinton 3 1-2 7, Venema 1 3-6 5, Osborne 1 1-2 3, Mount 0 1-2 1, McBride 0 1-2 1, Kibby 0 1-2 1.

WEDNESDAY

Colton 79- King’s Way Christian 15: 24/0 9/0 21/11 25/4: K. Moser 10 0-1 20, H. Moser 8 (2-3pt.) 0-0 12, Heaslet 3 5-6 11, Weber 3 (2-3pt.) 0-0 8, Dahmen 2 (2-3pt.) 0-0 6, Smith 3 0-0 6, Meyer 2 1-2 5, Kramer 2 0-0 4, K. Druffel 1 (3pt.) 0-0 3, G. Druffel 0 2-2 2, Nygreen 1 0-0 2. King’s Way Christian: Chan 4 0-0 8, Scott 3 (3pt.) 0-0 7.