Bulldog boys edge Chargers, advance

Colfax boys went into Wednesday’s NE semi-final round matched up against Northwest Christian, the NE's top finisher with an undefeated 16-0 league record. The Bulldogs qualified for the semi-final after another tough battle with the Springdale Chargers in the NE's quarter-final game Thursday, Feb. 9, at West Valley.

Northwest Christian defeated Colfax 57-42 at Colbert in January when the two clubs marked their lone matchup in the league campaign.

The Crusaders are led by Ryan Ricks who hit a high mark in the league campaign with a 50-point game. Ricks hit 22 in NE's first tourney outing last week.

The Crusaders advanced to Wednesday's semi with a 77-49 win over Reardan in the Feb. 9 quarter-final action.

Also in the semi-competition is Liberty, the south side foe that rapped Colfax in the last league round at Spangle. The Lancers advanced to the other semi-final game on a 70-37 romp over Wilbur/Creston.

Against Springdale in the quarter-final last week, Colfax worked to a 26-22 lead over the Chargers in the first half. The Bulldogs then came out in the third quarter and added another 10 points to the lead for a 47-33 lead going into the last quarter.

The Chargers, who could have qualified for the league's tough foe honor this year if the NE had such a designation, shaved down the Colfax edge in the last two minutes by spending fouls to get possession of the ball and picking up points after they took possession.

The late Springdale points spurt added an item to the prep list for Colfax coach Reece Jenkin going into the last rounds of the NE district playoff.

Springdale finished with 14 fouls after the late surge, and Colfax finished with a 5-11 mark off the toss line.

Junior Jaydon Soncarty, who hit two three-pointers against the Chargers, led the Bulldogs in the win over the Chargers with 20 points.

Senior Danny Robinson hit 19 and was credited with keeping the Bulldogs on track in the first round of the playoffs.

Senior Chandler Carr lead Springdale with 18 points, and junior Tyrone Doris hit 12 points.

Colfax 58-Springdale 53: Robinson 9 1-2 19, Soncarty 7 (2-3pt) 4-8 20, Carson Cloaninger 1 (3pt) 0-0 3, Caleb Berquist 2 0-0 4, Brett Kincaid 1 0-0 2, Jared Kneale 5 0-1 10. Total: 25 5-11 f-11 58. Springdale: Carr 8 2-3 18, Enoch Clemmer 3 (2 3pt) 1-2 9, Doris 5 (1-3pt) 1-2 12, Wyatt Edwards 1 0-0 2, Austin Howder 3 (3pt) 2-6 9, Evan Kitt 1 (3pt) 0-2 3. Total 21 6-11 f-14 53.