Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Colfax girls, who have been out of the final state 2B hoop show since winning titles in 2009 and 2010, will return to the Spokane Arena today for the start of the three-day final tournament. The Bulldogs passed the last test for a state ticket Saturday at Cheney when they bumped Lind/Ritzville/Sprague 44-38 in the regional round.
Colfax had a 2-1 record over the Broncos in the NE campaign.
“They have just worked very hard this year,” Coach Corey Baerlocher commented the the long road to the state show.
He noted members of the team on the first day of practice set a firm goal of making it to the Spokane show and pledged to put in the work required.
The commitment before the season’s campaign was made after a long summer of competition including travels by six members of the varsity on a 13-day trip play in California.
Colfax will arrive at Spokane today with a 21-6 record. The playoff campaign was capped two weeks ago with a SE-NE tourney win over Northwest Christian. The title win came after the Crusaders stopped Colfax twice in league play and in the NE district title game.
With Colfax out of the state show since 2010, none of the players on the Bulldog team, including seniors Bailey Mackleit and Nicole Sheer, have played in a final eight at the arena.
Baerlocher is reluctant to compare this year’s state entry with the 2010 championship team. However, he believes the Bulldog entry this year plays at a faster tempo and has a more balanced offense.
Saturday in the regional win over the Broncos at Cheney, the Bulldogs exploded to an 8-0 lead with two quick three-point shots. They then stalled out while the Broncos recovered. LRS trailed by just one point, 9-10 at the end of the quarter.
Colfax cranked it back up to 21-17 at halftime, but LRS came out after the break and again shaved it to a single point, 23-24.
Amara Huber, who led Colfax scoring with 20 points which included three treys, ignited a scoring spurt later in the third and the Bulldogs had a 34-25 lead going into the last quarter.
LRS charged again, but Scout Cai hit a three-pointer and Sidney Sheer added a bucket to fend off the Broncos as the gameclock went under two minutes.
Coach Baerlocher noted Bulldogs, who have learned to work the clock after some derailments earlier in the season, automatically slowed the pace down at the finish.
Last shot for the Broncos was a dropper by Mallory Kessler with seven seconds left on the clock. Lind/Ritzville/Sprague ended the season with a 17-12 record.
Colfax girls will play LaConner at 12:15 p.m. today in the first round of the 2B tournament. LaConner topped Napavine 51-46 in their regional round.
The Bulldogs’ season-long NE foe, Northwest Christian, is booked on the opposite bracket and will play Bear Creek in the tourney opener at 9 a.m.
Besides NWC, Baerlocher sees Toutle Lake as another one of the top contenders in the eight-team finale. He said White Swan, which was bumped by St. George’s at another regional site, had also figured to be one of the power clubs in the pre-season ratings.
St. George’s, which stopped White Swan 51-48, will play Morton-White Pass in the first round today, and DeSales, the other qualifier out of the NE-SE will play Toutle Lake.
Colfax 44-Lind/Ritzville/Sprague 38: 11/9 11/8 13/8 10/13: Amara Huber 7 (3-3pt) 3-4 20, Kori Goodwin 0 2-2 2, Bailey Mackleit 2 (3pt) 1-3 6, Scout Cai 4 (3pt) 4-6 13, Olivia Mellor 0 1-2 1, Sidney Sheer 1 0-2 2. Total 13 11-23 f-21 44. Lind/Ritzville/Sprague: Felicia Zeimer 0 1-2 1, Jenna Bennett 2 6-9 11, Dalyn Killian 4 (3pt) 2-9 11, Mallory Kessler 3 3-4 9, Tommi Swannack 1 1-4 3, Tessa Janrtz 1 1-2 3. Total: 11 14-20 f-22 38.
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