Bulldogs drop Lancers, face East Valley

Jaydon Soncarty of Colfax goes up against Isaak Ottmar for two points as the Bulldogs scramble in an overtime comeback win over Liberty.

Carson Cloaninger of Colfax drives against Patrick Paredes of Liberty during the Colfax charge.

Colfax came to life in the last quarter to catch a hard-charging Liberty team and then ripped past them in overtime for a 59-54 win Wednesday, Dec. 21. The comeback win left the Bulldogs at 4-1 on the first lap of NE league play.

Asotin, which topped Colfax in the first league game here, also finished 4-1.

After the big win over Liberty, the Bulldogs Tuesday traveled to West Valley to play East Valley in the first round of holiday action. East Valley prevailed 58-22, having posted a 30-7 lead after the first half.

Against Liberty, the Bulldogs trailed for most of the game before locking up the Lancers at 49-49 in overtime.

The Bulldogs hit the first six points of the overtime and held on for the five-point win.

Carson Cloaninger zapped the first two points, and Jaydon Soncarty hit two foul shots. Danny Robinson, who led Colfax with 21 points on the night, went full court for another bucket for a 55-49 edge.

The Lancers tuned in with one bucket, and Cloaninger answered with another shot.

"It was a huge win for us going into the holiday break," coach Reece Jenkin commented.

He noted Colfax charged after trailing by as many as nine points in the second half.

Liberty zapped Colfax 21-8 in the first quarter, and they had a 40-33 lead going into the last quarter.

Colfax hit the first seven points of the fourth quarter to tie it up at 40-40 with 5:13 left, and the Bulldogs posted a 48-44 lead with Soncarty hitting a salvage shot in the paint before Liberty battled back for the 49-49 tie in regulation time.

Liberty faced the OT challenge after playing Reardan the previous night as part of a tight hoop schedule to make up for its delayed start on the hoop season after the football playoffs.

Coach Jenkin noted Colfax pegged the OT win with two players already knocked out on five fouls. Robinson played through the OT while packing four fouls.

Liberty was topped by senior guard Tyler Haas who also finished with 21 points.

The win left Colfax with a 5-2 overall record before Tuesday's loss to East Valley at the West Valley Eagle Classic.

The Colfax entry at West Valley, which included a Wednesday game with Okanogan, had Robinson out of the lineup for a family holiday trip.

East Valley's Gage Rogers made most of the difference for the Knights with eight 3-point shots.

Soncarty, Cloaninger and Caleb Berquist each hit seven to lead Colfax.

Colfax will resume league play with a trip next Friday to Northwest Christian to start a run of games against teams in the north side of the NE division. They will host Wilbur/Creston next Saturday.

Colfax 59-Liberty 54: 8/21 22/4 14/15 16/9 10-5: Robinson 7 (4 3pt) 4-8 21, Soncarty 1 7-10 9, Cloaninger (2-3pt) 4-6 20, Berquist 0-2 4, Brett Kincaid 0 1-2 1, Jared Kneale 2 0-2 4. Total 18 16-30 f-21 59. Liberty: Jawuan Nave 5 0-0 6, Tyler Haas 8 (3pt) 4-5 21, Brandon Holling 2 (3pt) 1-1 6, Patrick Paredes 0 2-2 2, Chase Burnham 3 2-5 8, Isaak Ottmar 5 1-4 11. Total: 21 10-18 f-23 54.

East Valley 58-Colfax 22: 16/8 14/0 20/5 8/10: Soncarty 7, Cloaninger 7, Berquist 7, Kneale 1. East Valley: Ryan Abbott 5, Terik Beydler 7, Ale-dre Bracey 2, Treyshaun Bracey 7, Jeremiah Hillard 8, Eli Holecek 10, Gage Rogers 27.