NWC shuts down Bulldogs for six-point win in title tilt

JJ Robinson goes between Northwest Christian's Reuben Clark (44) and Kwinn Hanson to put one up for the Bulldogs Saturday in the district title game at Mt. Spokane High School.

Jolted by the Bulldogs on their own court Jan. 29 in the last league round, Northwest Christian Crusaders were all-business Saturday night when the two league leaders collided for the District 7 title at Mt. Spokane High. The big Crusader team, which put up a defensive stand in the last quarter, took a 41-35 win to get the top district slot.

Colfax Friday will roll to University High School where they will need to pick up two wins to get a ticket to the revised state 2B derby which starts March 3 in Spokane.

Colfax Friday faces White Swan, the number-three team out of the big District 5/6 show last week. A Colfax win will match the Bulldogs Saturday against the loser of the Waitsburg/Prescott -Brewster battle.

The Cardinals, who also collided with Colfax in the semi round of the football playoffs, have the top card in the elims at University after taking District 9’s top slot. Waitsburg/Prescott has just one loss in the season.

Brewster, like Colfax, rolls to University with a number-two ticket after they were pounded 59-32 by Lake Roosevelt for the number-one slot out of Wenatchee. The Bears now have a 10-11 record.

Lake Roosevelt and Northwest Christian collide Friday at Wenatchee with the winner getting one of eight slots at Spokane.

Colfax Coach Reece Jenkin believes White Swan Friday will be the fasted team the Bulldogs will play all year. White Swan was upset by Brewster in the semi round of their district playoff and figures to be a tough club.

Jenkin credited NWC with putting up a great battle Saturday at Mt. Spokane. The Crusaders put up a lot of defensive pressure, particularly on the perimeter, and used their height to limit Colfax shots.

Northwest Christian cracked a 6-0 lead on the Bulldogs with Crusader veterans Cole Ramey, Reuben Clark and Kwinn Hansen each putting in a bucket. That six-point lead turned out to be the largest gap of the game.

Colfax senior Steve Teade launched Colfax with a steal, bucket and toss shot, and Kyle Johnson hit a three to ignite the Colfax offense. It locked up at 15-15 for the first quarter.

The Bulldogs then chased NWC for the balance of the half and trailed by just two points at the break.

Second-half credits go the defense. Colfax froze NWC’s power offense down to two points in the third quarter. They caught the Cru club at 28-28 on a three-pointer by Brandon Gfellers and took the lead with 1:48 left in the third when JJ Robinson dropped a three.

The defense crunch shifted to the other end of the court in the last quarter when the Crusaders held Colfax to four points while reclaiming the league and rolling to their 41-35 final.

Teade put Colfax up 35-33 with 4:12 left, but that turned out to be the end of the Bulldog scoring.

Hanson and Ramey hit buckets for the Crusaders to regain the lead for the last time.

Ramey and Hanson then put in the dagger with Ramey executing a 29 second burn off the shot clock, then missing. Hanson pulled it down and put it back up.

The play was disputed by the Bulldogs who contended Ramey missed the rim before Hanson’s putback. That would have erased Hanson’s two points and turned the ball over to Colfax with 14 seconds left for an attempt to tie it.

Clark, the Crusaders 6-8 junior, finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. He went to the bench on a three-foul load for part of the third quarter when Colfax shut down the NWC offense.

Hanson had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Crusaders hit more than 45 percent from the field for the game with all but three of their buckets coming from the inside range. They out-boarded Colfax by 11, 33 to 22 and all of the difference was in defensive rebounds.

Colfax, limited in how many they could launch inside the paint, kept up most of the way with five three-pointers. Kyle Johnson hit two.

The Bulldogs shot under 28 percent at 11-40.

Northwest Christian 41-Colfax 35: 15/15 11/8 2/8 13/4: Jon Williams 1 0-0 2, Cole Ramey 3 (3pt) 1-2 8, Jack Shannon 2 (both 3-pt) 0-0 6, Kwinn Hansen 6 0-1 12, Reuben Clark 6 1-2 13. Total: 18 2-5 f-12 41. Colfax: Brandon Gfeller 3 (3pt) 3-5 10, Kyle Johnson 2 (both 3pt) 0-0 6, Alex Teade 2 1-1 5, JJ Robinson 3 (3pt) 4-4 11, Justin Berarducci 1 1-1 3. Total: 11 8-12 f-9 35.