Two close defeats send Colfax boys to brink

Defeats in close hoop battles Friday and Monday sent the Bulldog boys to the brink of elimination at the NE district playoff at Mead.

Colfax Wednesday afternoon faced Reardan in the second round of the NE after battling Northwest Christian in the first round Monday.

The Crusaders, who split with the Bulldogs in the league race, managed a 60-57 win over Colfax in first round action Monday at Mead.

Reardan was hammered 84-46 by the 21-0 St. George’s team in the first round.

Colfax trailed NWC 23-27 at the half of the first playoff game and then hit another one of their third quarter slumps when NWC added 10 points to the gap.

“We were very close, but we let them get away in the third quarter, and couldn’t make it up when we started to hit,” Coach Reece Jenkin said.

The Bulldogs roared for 25 points in the last quarter to make up 11 points on the deficit. They came within three points in the final seconds but again couldn’t roll it over.

Jonathan Morris, Crusader guard who was more-or-less contained in the two league rounds, broke out for a game-high 24 points for NWC.

Morris finished with four straight toss shots in the last quarter when the Crusaders were fending off the Colfax charge.

Kasey Johnson, who hit 7 of 8 at the toss line in the last quarter, led Colfax with 18. Johnson also plugged a three point capper in the fourth.

Friday night on their home court, Colfax kept within range of the LRS Broncos in the last home game with a strong defensive performance. LRS rode through most of the first three quarters on a 10-point margin before the Bulldogs made another fourth-quarter charge.

Brent Becker hit a bucket and picked up a toss shot to cut the LRS lead to eight 30-38. Kasey Johnson, who led Colfax with 21 points Friday, added a bucket to shave the lead to six points.

Coach Jenkin called time and put the Bulldogs in a foul mode to get the ball with the clock running down. The tactic worked with the Broncos hitting one-for-two at the line while Becker, Keith Gfeller and Johnson dropped buckets for the Bulldogs on the next possessions. It boiled down to a 40-43 LRS lead but the guests finished out off with three more toss shots as the clock ran out.

Friday’s loss left the Bulldogs at 5-9 in the league finish after they hit a slump in the second round. They finished fifth in the league.

Northwest Christian 60-Colfax 57: 16/12 7/15 9/19 25/14; Jonathan Morris 8 (3pt) 7-8 24, Phillip Bax 2 0-0 4, Ryan Ricks 2 (botj 3pt)( 0-0 6, Ian Stanley 0 3-4 3, Nathan Sander 5 (3pt) 0-0 11, David Olds 1 01 2, Chris Hartis 5 0-0 10. Total: 23 10-15 f-19 60. Colfax: Danny Robinson 4 1-2 9, Mark Webber 2 (3pt) 0-0 5, Keith Gfeller 2 (3pt) 4-4 9, Hunter Weitze 1 (3pt) 0-0 3, Kasey Johnson 4 (2-3pt) 8-9 18, Brent Becker 6 0-1 12. 12, Tyler Kincad 0 1-3 1: Total 19 14-19 f-12 57.

Lind/Ritzville/Sprague 46-Colfax 40: 14/12 190/4 11/9 11 15: Connor O’Neal 5 (3pt) 4-8 15, Dylan Hartz 2 8-12 12, Cort Rizicka 2 3pt) 6-6 11, Kyle Canaday 1 (3pt) 0-0 3, Tyler Fredrickson 3 0-0 6. Total: 13 18-26 f-14 46. Colfax: Garret Burke 0 2-2 2, Keith Gfeller 3(3pt) 0-0 7, Hunter Weitze 1 (3pt)0-0 3, Kasey Johnson 7(3pt) 6-8 21, Brent Becker 3 1-3 7. Totals: 14 9-14 f-22 40.