Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Colton boys, Vining
Colton sophomore Luke Vining drives in the district second-place game against Waitsburg.
Dark bus rides on snowy roads define basketball season.
But to board the bus again in lighter sky, a tinge of warmth in the air, is the sport's goal. The Colton boys got there, outlasting the rest of the Southeast 1B league last weekend to join Pomeroy as the two teams to advanced into spring and regionals – one last step to state.
Spring has been good to the Wildcats in recent years, with state baseball championships in 2014 and 2016. Last fall, the boys made it to the last seconds of a state football quarterfinal. Now the basketball team is back in the postseason, securing a regional berth three years after the Wildcats' state title run of 2014.
The seniors on this team were freshmen on the bench then, except Grant Kinzer, who played varsity minutes. Last Saturday night in Colfax, he injured his foot in the third quarter against Waitsburg in the District Nine second-place game. Colton won 68-51.
He is expected to play in the Wildcats' regional matchup vs. Wellpinit at Cheney High School Friday at 8 p.m.
“We're counting on him being there,” said first-year Colton coach Nick Simons.“It's looking good.”
Meeting again to decide the last entry to regionals, Colton and Waitsburg split wildly in the regular season, Colton winning 89-50 Jan. 7 and losing 62-49 Jan. 28. Waitsburg then beat them a week-and-a-half ago (62-50) to open the District Nine tournament.
This time, it was the third-straight elimination game for Colton. Waitsburg lost in the district title game to Pomeroy the night before.
Winning decisively once more, Colton shot 45 percent from the field and executed Simons' call to push the ball up the floor more against the taller, slower Cardinals.
“We wanted to get as many possessions as possible,” said Simons.
With Kinzer missing almost all of the second half, sophomore Luke Vining played more minutes. Only taking five shots in the game, he scored 12 points; six in the first half, six in the second.
Reece Chadwick led the team with 13 points while Peter Schultheis scored 12, Matt Wolf 11 and Kinzer 10. Jordan Garrity led the Cardinals with 20 points, and Kyle Gradwohl scored 13. Both are seniors.
Colton 65,
Oakesdale 46
Grant Kinzer delivered 25 points and 10 rebounds as the Wildcats eliminated Oakesdale Feb. 17 in the 1B District Nine tournament. Reece Chadwick added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Peter Schultheis scored 10 points, and Matt Wolf had eight for Colton, which trailed 28-24 at halftime.
Kieron Anderson led the Nighthawks with 17 points.
Oakesdale concluded its season with a record of 9-14.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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