Colfax girls take NE trophy

St. George's Hailey Higashi gets plenty of attention from Colfax defenders as she moves down the court Friday at West Valley in the NE championship game. Giving chase for the Bulldogs, from the left, are Faith Markley, Greta Geier and Katelyn Scholz. Colfax won the title game, but Higashi finished with 28 points, including eight three-point shots.

Colfax girls collect the NE trophy Friday at West Valley after defeating St. George's in the championship game. In front, from the left are coach Corey Baerlocher, Katelyn Scholz, Kylie Gronning, Sidney Sheer, Ashtyn Aune, and Olivia Mellor, all seniors. In back, from the left, are assistant coach Emily Dawson, Abbie Miller, Piper Cai, Taylor Garcia, Carmen Gfeller, Greta Geier, Faith Markley, Lexi Smith and assistant coach Joel Warwick.

Colfax girls roared past St. George's in the second quarter to win the NE district trophy Friday night at West Valley and then defeated DeSales in the first NE-SE playoff round Monday at Dayton to nail down a slot in the state regional, the first round of the state finals.

But before they get to the state round, the Bulldogs face another battle with the St. George's team which has a 2-1 edge on the Bulldogs in NE competition. The return engagement, set for 5 p.m. Saturday at Mead, was booked when the Dragons banked a 38-30 win over Dayton Monday in the NE-SE playoffs at Dayton.

The two NE wins came out of games which matched the top two league finishers in the NE against the top two out of the SE. Their rematch Saturday will decide the 1-2 slots for seeding in the state regional next week.

Last Friday at West Valley, Colfax rolled up 31 points over the second and third quarters and held the Dragons to 14 points in the same two frames on the way to a 45-35 win. The Bulldogs took control in the second quarter when they held the Dragons, who led 5-4 after the first quarter, to just three points.

Colfax defense put a lid on much of St. George's offense. The second quarter minutes ran down with the St. George's bench repeatedly counting down the last seconds on the expiring shot clock as the Dragons on the court frantically looked for a shot. The three points they hit in the frame came from a shot by Hailey Higashi.

St. George's trailed 8-19 at the half to be in about the same place they were in the last league game at Colfax when they inched their way back in the second half to a tie and pegged an overtime win.

Friday Colfax came out with a strong start in the third quarter, and chances for a Dragon comeback faded. They were down 16 points, 19-35, at the start of the fourth quarter.

Higashi again led the last charge for the Dragons. She finished with eight three-point shots for the game. Her trey shot with 2:27 left and a bucket by Abby Jones cut Colfax's lead to 32-39. Higashi hit another threebie with 40 seconds left to get the Dragons within six, but that was the end of the charge.

The Dragons were forced to go into a foul mode to get the ball, and Taylor Garcia and Sidney Sheer converted four of the six toss shots to ice the 10-point Colfax win and the NE trophy.

Colfax was led by Carmen Gfeller, who finished with 18 shots. The 6'1'' sophomore hit a lot of her points on second shots which were part of Colfax's domination on the boards.

Colfax finished with a 40-26 edge on rebounds with Gfeller credited with eight and Ashtyn Aune with seven.

Monday at Dayton, Colfax went up against a DeSales team which finished in the number two slot for the SE playoffs. Coach Tim Duncan's Irish team included two freshmen and three eighth graders on the roster.

The Irish, who came out with a fast floor game, stayed within five points against the Bulldogs in the first half. Colfax led by just three, 22-19 at the break. The Bulldogs gave up 14 turnovers to the scrambling Irish crew in the half.

Holly Burrato, one of the Irish eighth graders, topped DeSales with eight points for the half.

Colfax took off after the break on an eight-point run to a 30-19 lead in the first three minutes. Gfeller ran a string of eight, and a three-pointer by Katelyn Scholz advanced the lead to 35-21.

Part of the Colfax charge came off mid-court steals by Kylie Gronning and Scholz.

At the end of the third, Colfax led by 19 points, 42-23.

They finished with six more points added to the deficit for a 53-28 win and the Colfax reservers racking up game time.

Gfeller finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds in a matchup game which favored the Colfax inside game.

DeSales Friday will face Davenport, a 43-40 winner over Walla Walla Valley Academy, in an elimination round at Dayton.

Dayton will play Lind/Ritzville/Sprague, a 40-35 eliminator of Liberty, in the other round Friday.

Colfax 53-DeSales 28: 14/11 8/8 20/4 11/5: Piper Cai 3 0-0 6, Ashtyn Aune 2 (both 3pt) 1-2 7, Katelyn Scholz 2 (3pt) 0-4 5, Sidney Sheer 1 0-2 2, Kylie Gronning 0 1-2 1, Taylor Garcia 2 0-0 4, Carmen Gfeller 8 3-4 19. Olivia Mellor 3 1-2 7, Faith Markley 1 0-0 2. Total 22 6-16 f-19 53. DeSales: Teresa Acock 1 (3pt) 0-2 3, Kenna Burrato 0 3-4 5, Holly Burrato 3 (2-3pt) 3-5 11, Neriah Cortez, 1(3pt) 0-0 3, Lauryn Lyons 1 1-2 3, Ali Haider 11-2 3, Sadie Jones 1 0-2, 2. Total: 8 9-16 f-12 28.

Colfax 45-St. George's 35: 4/5 3/15 11/16 16/10: Piper Cai 1 (3pt) 0-0 3, Ashtyn Aune 2 (3pt) 2-5 7, Carmen Gfeller 8 2-3 18, Sidney Sheer 1 3-4 5, Taylor Garcia 2 4-6 8, Faith Markley 2 0-0 4. Total: 17 11-19 f-9 45. St. George's: Erin Armitage 1 0-0 2, Natalie Farias 1 1-2 3, Hailey Higashi 9 (8 3pt) 2-2 28, Abby Jones 10-0 3. Total 133-4 f-22 35.

State lineup

familiar

After Colfax and St. George's decide who will get the top NE-SE slot in the state playoffs at Mead Saturday afternoon, both will be looking at what other teams are surfacing on the state grid. Bulldog coach Corey Baerlocher notes many of the state qualifiers appear to be the regulars from past state 2B shows.

The WIAA is expected to announce match ups for next week's regional on Sunday. Colfax and St. George's will be among five entrants to advance after the lights go out in the Mead gym Saturday night.

Baerlocher noted the WIAA normally awards top rated teams with regional sites closer to home. Last year the Bulldogs faced Oroville at Cheney in the regional round of 16.

Okanogan again looks like a top qualifier and will play Mabton Saturday at Wenatchee to determine the top slot for the central WIAA districts.

Toutle Lake and Napavine both look like contenders who will surface on the playoff grid when it is announced Sunday, Baerlocher noted.

Winners of the eight regional games next weekend advance to the state finals the next week at Spokane.