Colfax, St. George’s cruise at Regionals

Gazette Editor

Colfax and St. George’s, defending champs and top–rated contender, thundered past foes in the Saturday regional eliminations at Mt. Spokane to top an NE sweep for slots in the three-day hoop finale at the Spokane Veterans’ Arena.

The Bulldogs stopped the Bridgeport Mustangs 66-28 in the first elimination game and the St. George’s Dragons followed with a 65-23 crunch of the North Beach Hyaks, a team which could probably claim the most miles traveled honor under the WIAA format for the round of 16 eliminations.

Wins by the top two NE league teams at Mt. Spokane were matched by a 74-58 win by Northwest Christian over Riverside Christian at Sunnyside and a 65-58 overtime win by Lind/Ritzville/Sprague over Bear Creek in overtime at Mountlake Terrace.

That means half of the slots for the 2B state finals have been nailed by teams which have been bouncing off one another since early December. The other four contenders are Adna, Morton/White Swan, Wahkiakum and La Conner.

Colfax drew La Conner for the state opener today, Thursday, in the second tourney game at 10:30 a.m.

Saturday, the Bulldogs matched up with a Bridgeport team which was making its first entry since the regional round was introduced. The Mustangs arrived at the Wildcat gym with a 13-10 record and the number-three ticket from the Districts 5-6 playoff the previous week.

Colfax started off with a roar with a 25-7 lead after the first quarter. It went to 37-13 at the half with Coach Reece Jenkin subbing down the bench.

The Mustangs’ offense didn’t top the 20-point mark until 7:11 of the fourth quarter. The Mustangs were led by Baily Morris Everson who had seven points.

Brandon Gfeller, who actually worked a short shift Saturday, again topped Colfax, this time with 19. His scrapbooker for the regional round was a reverse dunk in the first quarter.

Ten Bulldogs put points in the book with Brent Becker, who was left open along the baseline when the Colfax reserves cooking late in the game, finished with eight points.

Colfax 66-Bridgeport 28: 25/7 12/615/6 13/9: Brandon Gfeller 7 (3-3pt) 2-2 19, Brady Ellis 4 (2-3pt) 0-0 10, Bryce Kramlich 1 (3pt) 1-2 4, Keith Gfeller 3 (3pt) 0-0 7, Kasey Johnson 1 (3pt) 1-2 4, Brent Becker 4 0-0 8, Josh Brown 0 1-2 1, Skylar Simonson ,4 1-4 9, Hunter Weitze 1 0-0 2, Garret Burke 1 0-0 2. Total: 25 6-12 f-18 68. Bridgeport: Miguel Garza 0 1-2 2, Eric Saucedo 2 0-0 4, Cameron Cavadini 1 2-4 4, Jeffery Monje 1 0-0 2, Kip Craig 1 0-0 2, Baily Morris-Evenson 2 3-7 7, Kevin Alvarez 2 (3pt) 1-2 6, Nain Sanchez 1 0-0 2. Total: 10 7-16 f-19 28.