Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Oakesdale boys
-- Don Marshall photo
Oakesdale’s Kieran Anderson and Mason Bates of Gar/Pal fight for a rebound Monday in Colfax.
The Colton boys continued the Kinzer, Chadwick, Schultheis era into the weekend with a 70-64 win over Prescott in a loser's bracket round of the District Nine 1B tournament.
The win puts the Wildcats (14-9) past the stage which they lost the last two years, thus ending their seasons in 2015 and 2016.
At this stage three years ago, Colton was in the midst of a run of seven elimination game wins on the way to the state championship.
Grant Kinzer played key minutes on that team as a freshman. On Monday night, he led Colton with 26 points and 12 rebounds in the elimination game, while Peter Schultheis, another senior, scored 18 points with nine rebounds.
The Wildcats advance to meet Oakesdale Friday at 4:30 p.m. to decide the last entry for a shot at state.
Whoever wins will then play Saturday against the loser of Pomeroy-Waitsburg, which will meet in the championship Friday night.
Oakesdale made it this far with a decisive 65-42 first win over Garfield/Palouse, after losing twice to the Vikings in the regular season – by seven and nine-point margins.
“The biggest difference was we shot the ball better,” said Oakesdale coach Carl Crider.
The Nighthawks shot 48 percent from the floor to Gar/Pal's 30 percent.
Oakesdale (9-13) made the playoffs last year to break a long streak without a postseason appearance, dating back to the Tekoa/Oakesdale co-op. Last November, at the start of the 2016-17 season, the team set a goal to win a playoff game this year.
They did it Monday.
Now they aim to beat Colton, which they have lost to this year by 24, 10 and five points in three games. Oakesdale opened the district tournament as a No. 6 seed at Colton (No. 3) last week, losing 54-49.
“It's just getting closer and closer,” said Colton coach Nick Simons.
Oakesdale aims to take one more step.
“We've been pretty consistent in our effort and energy level all year,” Crider said. “We just haven't put together a game with four solid quarters.”
Oakesdale 65
Gar/Pal 42
The Vikings’ 2016-17 season concluded in Colfax Monday afternoon as Oakesdale advanced to stay alive in the District Nine tournament. Cal Gregory led the Nighthawks with 19 points while Kieron Anderson delivered 18.
Mason Bates, a senior, led Garfield/Palouse with 14 points in his last game for the Vikings (11-10) while Ely Hawkins had 12.
Garfield/Palouse beat Prescott 41-39 in the tournament's opening round Feb. 10.
Pomeroy 77
Gar/Pal 38
At Pomeroy, after a first-round bye, the Pirates opened district tournament play Feb. 11 with a rout over Garfield/Palouse.
Building a 39-21 lead at halftime, Pomeroy blew it open in the third quarter as Jake Tewalt scored 15 points. He finished with 25 in the game. Jace Gwinn and Oscar Morfin each scored 11.
Ely Hawkins led Gar/Pal with 20 points to put his team into the elimination game against Oakesdale.
Waitsburg 62
Colton 50
Colton went down on the road in its first-round game in the district tournament. Brady Chadwick led with 20 points while Grant Kinzer had 13 points and 14 rebounds in the loss. Kyle Gradwohl led Waitsburg with 25 points while Jacob Dunn scored 24.
Colton dropped into the loser's bracket for the elimination game against Prescott.
Colton 70
Prescott 64
Playing in the elimination game against Prescott Monday, Colton led 29-19 at halftime and 49-34 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth, Prescott cut into the lead but the Wildcats held on to extend their season. Travis Crockett led the Tigers (10-10) with 20 points, and Jose Gonzalez scored 16 in their season-ending game.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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