Colfax boys start year with near repeat roster

Colfax boys basketball will have almost the same roster for the new season which starts Saturday night on the home court with the Deer Park Stags for a non-leaguer. Colfax had just one senior on the varsity roster last year in Daniel Tate.

"We hope to gain a little more maturity this year and be a little more competitive down the line," Coach Reece Jenkin said.

Last year the Bulldog boys compiled a 10-15 season. They placed fifth in the NE district tournament and were bumped by Asotin in a NE-SE play-in game before the regionals.

Back as seniors will be Mark Webber, Hunter Weitze, Kasey Johnson and Brent Becker. Other varsity players back are juniors Keith Gfeller, Kenton Lyman and Tyler Kincaid, and sophomore Danny Robinson.

Coach Jenkin said a lot of changes in the NE hoops, in the lineup and revised rosters, mean a lot of uncertainty at the start of the season.

The biggest switch will be the division of the 11- team league into two divisions with six on the north side and five on the south side. Colfax will compete with Liberty, Tekoa/Rosalia, Lind/Ritzville/Sprague and St. George's with a home-and-home schedule in the south side division. They will have just one league game with the north side schools, Davenport, Reardan, Wilbur/Creston, Northwest/Christian, Springdale and Kettle Falls.

The NE has booked a qualifying round before the district tournament with the top four teams in each division playing for a qualification slot in the district show which will be moved to Reardan this year.

Coach Jenkin notes graduation at St. George's and LRS can be expected to change the power lineup for the NE schools. He expects the Liberty Lancers, led by Match Burnham and Clay Fleming, to be the league power club.

After Saturday's start at home, the Bulldogs will host the Colton Wildcats, defending 1B champions, in another non-leaguer Tuesday and then host St. George's in the first NE round next Friday, Dec. 12.

The Dragons will open the season as the NE defending champions. They posted a 54-45 win over LRS in the district title game last year.

Liberty bumped Northwest Christian in the last district round to finish third in the district..

New to the Colfax coaching lineup this year will be the return of Ben Aune, a Bulldog grad from 2007 who played at Walla Walla. Aune, who was an assistant at Colton for the last two years, takes the spot vacated by Jeremy Bogle.

Randy Daniels will return as jayvee coach.