Colfax girls roar back to clip NWC

Gazette Editor

Colfax girls kept on track for the number-two finish in the NE league with two contrasting wins over the weekend.

Friday on their home boards, the Bulldog girls launched a second half comeback to clip a veteran Northwest Christian team by one point, 45-44. The charge started after the Bulldogs trailed by as many as 15 against the Crusaders who iced Colfax with a stingy defense for most of the first half.

After the one-point win Friday, Colfax stacked up a 60-24 runaway road win Saturday at the home of their league neighbors, Liberty.

The two weekend wins leave Colfax at 10-2 in the league standings with two games left. They will travel to Ritzville Friday for a second-round match with the Broncos and then return home Saturday to close out the league rounds against the visiting Chargers from Springdale.

Both Colfax league defeats have been to Reardan who remained undefeated in the league race Saturday after fighting off the same NWC team that swamped the Bulldogs for the first two quarters Friday in the Colfax gym.

The Crusader girls Friday here opened with a stingy defense which blanked most Colfax attempts to feed a ball into the scoring zone. The green crew also mixed in a half court set which stifled the Bulldogs’ outside shooting. The Crusaders posted a 15-2 lead after the first quarter, but the Bulldogs began to shake it off in the second quarter and finished just eight points back at the halftime break after Amelie Bruya hit two three-point shots.

Taylor Larsen hit five quick points at the start of the second half and Colfax took the lead, 24-23, on a shot by Nicole Sheer with 4:03 left in the third.

That signaled an all-out stretch run with the two clubs trading toss shots late in the fourth quarter. Sheer, Bruya and Amara Huber hit toss duos to up the ante for the host Bulldogs.

Treasure Farmer, who led NWC with 18, hit a bucket to regain the lead for the visitors, but Colfax dropped enough toss shots with Kori Goodwin hitting the capper for the 45-44 win.

The final minutes sent five of the starters to the bench with five fouls.

Saturday at Liberty, Colfax rolled to a 21-2 lead over the Lancers with Coach Cory Baerlocher calling out the reserves early against the struggling Lancer team. Larsen hit 17 points to lead Colfax, and Alyssa Tee topped Liberty with 13.

Colfax 45-Northwest Christian 44: 2/15 10/5 21/8 12/16: Kori Goodwin 1 1-4 3, Bailey Mackleit 0 1-4 1 Nicole Sheer 2 (3pt) 2-2 7, Taylor Larsen 4 -2-10, Rachel Robinson 1 1-4 3, Amara Huber 2 (3pt ) 2-4 7, Amelie Bruya 3 (all 3pt) 5-5 14. Total 13 14-23 f-16 45. NWC: Hannah Dietzen 1 6-7 8, Maria Guske 3 1-6 7, Courtney Gray 1 6-6 8, Treasure Farmer 7 (3pt) 3-5 18, Rachel Bozlee 1 (3pt) 0-0 3. Total 13 16-24 44.

Colfax 60-Liberty 24: 21/2 15/7 15/2 9/13: Scout Cai 1 0-0 2, Kori Goodwin 1 0-0 2, Bailey Mackleit 3 (3pt) 0-2 7, Nicole Sheer 5 2-4 12, Taylor Larsen 6 5-8 17, Rachel Robinson 3 3-4 9, Amara Huber 0 1-2 1, Amelie Bruya 3 (2-3pt) 0-0 8, Brooklyn Schmidt 1 0-0 2. Total: 23 11-21 f-17 60 Liberty: Maggie Nelson 2 0-0 4, Katherine Stern 1 2-3 4, Alyssa Tee 6 (3pt) 0-1 13, Mikayla Cornwall 1 0-0 2, Machy Cornmesser 0 1-4 1 Total 10 3-13 f-18 24.