Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Colton’s undefeated Wildcats iced a fifth straight district title and wrapped up another perfect season Friday night by sinking the Nighthawks of Tekoa/Oakesdale 75-28 in the SE championship game at Endicott.
Colton now sets its sights on a fourth straight state 1B title, opening the regional round against Trout Lake Saturday night at University High School in Spokane.
The ‘cats have not lost since falling to Almira/Coulee/Hartline in the first round of last year’s regional which then featured a double-elimination format for league champions.
Tekoa/Oakesdale Friday stayed close enough through the opening minutes, trailing 8-10 midway through the first quarter. But that was it.
The Wildcats exploded over the next 12 minutes, forcing the Nighthawks into turnovers that led to easy Colton baskets and closing the half with a 42-12 lead.
Haley Moser and Paige Vincent did most of the first half damage, with Moser logging 12 of her 17 points before the break and Vincent bagging all 10 of her points in the first half.
Jenna Moser took the second half with 11 of her 17 points coming after intermission.
Alex Overton led the Nighthawks with six points.
St. John/Endicott bagged the SE district’s other shot to the regional round Saturday night in a 50-40 overtime win over the ‘hawks. Tekoa/Oakesdale pulled out to a nine-point lead midway through the third quarter, but a series of ‘hawk turnovers and fouls closed the gap to two points, 30-28, to start the fourth.
Gretchen Van Lith hit a running floater in the key to knot the score as the final frame opened, and the two teams locked up in a physical back-and-forth battle the rest of the way.
The Nighthawks grabbed a four-point lead with just under two minutes to play when Alex Overton canned three points off a lay-up and a foul.
Rachel Gfeller answered with a jumper from inside the key to pull the Eagles within two. Gfeller notched six of the Eagles’ 10 points in the fourth.
A steal by SJE’s Sami Bailey led to another Gfeller hit to knot the score at 38-all.
The Eagles took back the ball with 9.2 seconds left, but Gfeller’s shot was off the mark and Cassy Mendoza blocked Van Lith’s put-back try as the clock wound to zero with a tie game.
Van Lith canned a teardrop to open the overtime session and sank another jumper to pull the Eagles ahead. TO went into clock-stop foul mode, but SJE guard Sami Bailey hit four of six free throws to put the game away and land the Eagles the number-two regional ticket.
The Eagles open Saturday’s regional round at U-Hi against Sunnyside Christian.
They earned the TO matchup by winning another thriller Friday, a 44-41 elimination win over Garfield/Palouse.
Gar/Pal used Taylor Redman’s long-range shooting to pull out to a 21-18 lead to close the first half.
The Eagle offense clicked on in the third, as a balanced attack helped SJE post a 15-8 advantage.
Devan Bafus was the second half difference for the Eags, logging all of her team-high nine points after the break.
Kaycie Adair’s 16 points were tops for the Vikings.
FRIDAY SCORING
CHAMPIONSHIP
Colton 75- Tekoa/Oakesdale 28: 22/8 20/4 21/11 12/5: Jenna Moser 6 (3pt.) 4-5 17, Haley Moser 7 3-4 17, Paige Vincent 4 (2-3pt.) 10, Raylynn Smith 2 2-5 6, Kaitlin Druffel 2 1-2 5, Erin Weber 2 (3pt.) 5, Peyton Meyer 2 (3pt.) 5, Grace Druffel 1 3-4 5. TO: Alex Overton 3 0-0 6, Matti Jo Johnson 2 0-1 4, Alexa Lindgren 1 (3pt.) 0-0 3, Courtenay Perry 1 (3pt.) 0-0 3, Morgan Angelo 1 (3pt.) 0-0 3, Cassy Mendoza 0 3-4 3, Kimberly Groom 1 0-0 2, Kayler Dub 1 0-0 2, Maggie Bogenreif 0 1-4 1, Kim Marston 0 1-2 1.
St. John/Endicott 44- Garfield Palouse 41: 7/9 11/12 15/8 11/12: Devan Bafus 2 (3pt.) 4-6 9, Sami Bailey 3 3-3 9, Rachel Gfeller 3 0-1 6, Gretchen Van Lith 2 2-2 6, Jade Porubek 2 1-2 5, Michal Schuster 1 3-4 5, Emily Jones 1 2-3 4. GP: Kaycie Adair 5 (3pt.) 5-8 16, Taylor Redman 5 (3-3pt.) 0-0 13, Terrie Taylor 2 1-2 5, Alexis Rodriguez 2 (3pt.) 0-1 3, Kaila Martin 1 0-0 2, Sammi Johnson 1 0-2 2.
SATURDAY SCORING
St. John/Endicott 50- Tekoa/Oakesdale 40 (OT): 8/13 10/10 10/7 10/8 12/2: Gretchen Van Lith 8 1-6 17, Sami Bailey 3 6-8 12, Rachel Gfeller 5 1-3 11, Devan Bafus 2 2-6 6, Michal Schuster 1 1-3 3, Jade Porubek 0 1-4 1, Emily Jones 0 0-2 0. TO: Alex Overton 7 (3pt.) 1-3 16, Courtenay Perry 3 (3pt.) 0-1 7, Kayler Dub 4 0-0 8, Kimberly Groom 2 0-3 4, Mattie Jo Johnson 0 3-6 3, Alexa Lindgren 0 2-2 2, Cassie Mendoza 0 0-1 0.
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