Bulldog boys break 17-year state freeze

Bulldog boys battled through four games to bring home the eighth place trophy from this year's 2B tournament in Spokane. The trophy win was the first for the Bulldog boys since 1993. In front, from the left, are Kyle Johnson, Will Hatley, Brandon Hoadley, Tanner Gay, Brandon Gfeller and Manager Danny Robinson. In back are Coach Reece Jenkin, Dustin Huber, Assistant Coach Jeremy Bogle, Justin Berarducci, James Robinson, Caleb Bravard, Alex Teade, Ryan Conrad, Tyler McNannay, Andrew Scholz, and Assistant Coaches Jeff Robinson and Randy Daniels. Five seniors finished their CHS hoop careers.

After battling Liberty Christian, the SE champs who wound up in the title game, down to the final minutes in the opening round Wednesday at Spokane, the Bulldog boys returned to the 2B arena Thursday and blasted Willapa Valley 66-36 to stay on the trophy trail.

Although players on the team bus weren’t aware of it, the win over Willapa ended a mean string of nine straight losses in state tourney books. The string goes back to before a lot of the Colfax players of 2010 were born.

Colfax came back again Friday and advanced to the trophy round on a 62-37 elimination win over Toutle Lake.

The last day was not so good. Bear Creek, one of the pre-tourney favorites, pounded the Bulldogs early and cruised to a 30 point win for the fifth-place trophy.

Colfax placed eighth. It’s the first time the Bulldog boys have had a piece of state hoop spoils since 1993.

For most of the years since Colfax boys have missed out on the state show. In their last three state starts, in 1994, 2005 and 2006, it was a case of going home after two games.

“It’s really an honor. We just kept battling to get there,” Coach Reece Jenkin said.

He noted the team pegged a goal of still being around on the first Saturday in March and getting a win on that day. It didn’t happen that way, but they did collect the trophy and sketch out what could be a big future.

LIBERTY CHRISTIAN 60-Colfax 52

Colfax started Wednesday as the underdogs against the SE championship team which eventually wound up in the Saturday night title game. The big and talented Liberty Christian team moved out to a lead, but the Bulldogs, after shaking off first-time jitters, paced them.

“I think we were just a little bit awestruck at the atmosphere up there,” Coach Jenkin said.

The Bulldogs also had trouble containing Cody Brockman, the Patriots’ senior speedster who demonstrated 50 ways to reach the hoop.

“We just couldn’t stop him,” Coach Jenkin admitted.

Colfax caught the Pats at 7:34 of the fourth quarter when Alex Teade zapped a three-pointer for a 45-45 tie.

The game then went into suspension for almost five minutes. Colfax had three possessions over that stretch, but added zero.

Brockman and Brett Dustin finally jump-started the Pats’ offense back to life and the SE leaders had a 49-45 lead with 2:50 left. Big Brian Corrigan then hit two toss shots to open the gap to six.

In fact, Colfax didn’t alter the big Arena scoreboard until 1:49.

Liberty Christian added wins the next two days and then ran into a Pe Ell team which was on its way to a first state title.

Colfax 66-WILLAPA VALLEY 36

It was a case of staying at the tourney table Thursday. Willapa also went into the elimination game after losing a tough battle, to Chief Leschi, in the opening round.

Colfax posted a 25-18 lead at the half and then added 20 points to their lead after the break.

“We just got the shots,” Coach Jenkin said. He added the Bulldogs seemed to hit their groove after shedding the first game arena jitters.

Colfax shot 47 percent against the Vikings and had a 20 board edge in rebounds.

Caleb Bravard broke out for 23 points, including a nine from the field with two threebies.

Josh Freeman, Willapa’s 6-1 power player who was in the thick of the Viking battle on the first day, was held to four points. Freeman brought a 12 point game average to the arena.

The Vikings went 0-8 from the three-point range.

Colfax 62-TOUTLE LAKE 37

Friday’s elimination win over the Ducks put the Bulldogs at the trophy table. Bravard continued his point run with 15 in the second quarter. While being a power under the net, he dropped away from the paint and hit four shots from three-point range.

Colfax baked the ducks with eight threebies, all in the first half.

“We got into the inside early in the game,” Jenkin noted. That led the Vikings to leave shots out on the perimeter, and the Bulldogs picked them off.

Brandon Gfeller had two more of the threes; Brandon Hoadley and James Robinson had the other two.

When it was over, the Bulldogs were in line for their first trophy since 1993 and their first at Spokane as a B contender.

BEAR CREEK 63-Colfax 33

The final round? Not so good.

Jolted by Pe Ell in the first round after traveling to Spokane as a top tourney favorite, the Grizzlies went into gear for the next two days and kept up a full head of steam in the opening trophy game Saturday. They had a 16-2 lead after the first quarter and they just kept cooking.

Colfax hit just one of eight shots in the first quarter. The percent went up to 50 percent in the second quarter, but that was just two shots out of four.

Bear Creek junior Lucas Peterson hit 28 against Colfax, including three treys. The score went to 29-11 at the half, and the Griz club from Redmond never backed off.

Overall, the Bulldogs booked a strong success for the season, and it bodes well for coming seasons.

“I was really happy to see them compete the way they did,” Coach Jenkin said.

The trophy finish was a signoff for seniors Caleb Bravard, Will Hatley, Brandon Hoadley, Tanner Gay and Dustin Huber. All had a role in getting the Bulldogs back on the state track this year.

Coach Jenkin will also have a lot of players who put in a lot of court time back for another run next year.

“One of our strong points was our depth, “ Coach Jenkin said.

Bear Creek 63-Colfax 33: 16/2 13/9 16/5 18/17: Jamie Meyer 4 (3pt) 4-4 13, Kyle Blankenbeckler 0 1-2 1, Lucas Peterson 11 (3-2pt) 3-4 28, Garrett Benson 1 0-0 2, Ryan Strandin 8 0-4 16, Michael Davison 1 0-0 2. Total: 25-51 9-18 f-11 63. Colfax: Will Hatley 1 0-0 2, Brandon Hoadley 1 (3-r) 0-0 3, Tanner Gay 3 (all 3pt) 2-2 11, Alex Teade 1 0-3 2, James Robinson 3 (3pt) 0-0 7, Brandon Gfeller 1 (3pt) 0-0 3, Justin Berarducci 1 0-0 2, Dustin Huber 1 0-0 2, Tyler McNannay 0 1-2 1. Total 12-52 3-5 f-19 33.

Colfax 62-Toutle Lake 37: 14/12 25/13 12/9 11/3: Berarducci 0 2-2 2, Caleb Bravard 5 (4-3pt) 3-4 17, Gay 0 2-2 2, Gfeller 4 (2-3pt) 2-2 12, Hoadley 1 (3pt) 6-6 9, Huber 5 2-3 12, Kyle Johnson 0 1-2 1, McNannay 1 0-2 2, Robinson 1 (3pt) 0-0 3, Andrew Schols 0 2-2 2, Total: 17-39 20-38 f-19 62: Toutle: Tyler Elam 1 0-0 2, Chris Foster 4 9-9 17, Zach Hayes 1 2-6 4, Austin Hoffman 0 1-2 1, Philip Jalapoor 2 (3pt) 3-6 8, Corey Keefe 1 0-0 2, Daniel Schilter 1 1-4 3. Total: 10-33 16-27 f-19 37.

Colfax 66-Willapa Valley 36: Bravard 9 (2-3pt) 7-7 23, Hatley 1 0-1 2, Gay 2 0-0 4, Robinson 1 2-3 4, Gfeller 4 1-2 9, Berarducci 5 0-0 10, Huber 3 0-0 6, McNannay 0 1-2 1. Total: 28 13-20 f-13 66. Willapa: Matt Friese 2 2-3 6, Aaron Friese 1 8-10 10, Jake Lundy 4 0-4 8, John Nissell 1 0-1 2, Andrew Friese 1 0-0 2, Jordan Wilkeson 1 0-1 3, Josh Freeman 1 2-2 4, Brandon Schwiesow 1 0-0 2. Total 12 12-19 F-18 36.

Liberty Christian 60-Colfax 42: 11/11 16/11 18/20 15/10: Bravard 11, Gay 13, Teade 5, Robinson 13, Berarducci 2, Huber 8. Liberty Christian: Jake Siefkin 12, Brett Dustin 6, Cory Brockman 29, Bryan Corrigan 13.