Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Colton girls, Druffel
Colton girls, Patchen
Oakesdale girls vs. Pomeroy
Colton’s Kendyl Druffel and Pomeroy’s Kacey Halbert, both seniors, in the thick of the district championship game.
Colton’s Dakota Patchen rises for two last Friday in Colfax.
Oakesdale’s Logan Reed looks to the basket against Pomeroy.
For a moment, they sparked a thought.
The Pomeroy girls, playing Colton in the district title game last Friday, were still tight with the eight-time defending 1B state champions at the end of the third quarter.
Then came the idea – an inkling in some minds in the crowded Colfax gym – if and when the Colton girls streak of 1B titles ends, it was assumed it would happen at state. Someone would beat them in a state final, most likely.
But Feb. 17 in Colfax, with Pomeroy's Kacey Halbert pushing the ball up the floor and behind-the-back, the unthinkable rose. If the Pirates held through the fourth quarter and won, Colton would drop to the second-place game to face Oakesdale, a team which beat them earlier in the year – ending the Wildcats' seven-year home (and league) winning streak.
If Oakesdale beat Colton once this year, it could happen again, and the Wildcats' legendary streak could end before even getting to state.
But too much thinking can get you killed.
Bam, bam, bam, Colton had Pomeroy in submission within a few fourth-quarter possessions: offensive rebounds and putbacks from Abby Kelly, Dakota Patchen from outside for three, Meghan Devorak for another three-pointer, some made free throws and this game was over, 61-49. Colton took the 1B District Nine championship and a berth to regionals as the state's No. 1 seed.
Pomeroy dropped into the second-place game and lost to Oakesdale.
So the Pirates will not even get to state.
Such is the level of competition at the top of the Southeast 1B league. Pomeroy had beaten Oakesdale twice this year, as recently as Feb. 10 – decisively, 68-49.
But on the road to state, the score only matters the last time.
Now, with all of Colton's veneer and its record streak of state titles, as coach Clark Vining says, this team has never won one.
Regionals are this weekend.
No. 1 Colton plays No. 8 Selkirk Friday at 6 p.m. at Cheney High School. No. 2 Oakesdale will meet No. 7 Evergreen Lutheran Saturday at 2 p.m., also at Cheney High School.
In the new state basketball format, these games are not elimination games due to Colton and Oakesdale's top ratings in state RPI. For the top-eight ranked teams, regional-game winners earn a bye into the second round of the state tournament in Spokane. With a loss in regionals, the top-eight still advance to state, opening with a do-or-die game on the first day of the Spokane brackets.
DISTRICT
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
It started with a 13-2 Pomeroy lead at the 3:11 mark of the first quarter. Colton called timeout.
Back on the floor, the Wildcats quickly reversed it, and a three-pointer from Patchen made it 14-13 Colton.
But it stayed close. Nearing halftime, Pomeroy's No. 10, Halbert, rejected a three-point attempt from Devorak at the top of the key and raced down the floor with the ball.
She missed the lay-up.
Under 20 seconds, Colton took the ball up the floor, and Jordyn Moehrle missed two free throws.
Kendyl Druffel came up with the batted rebound, drove the baseline in the waning seconds and went up for a shot.
Halbert slapped the ball away again, Pomeroy threw it up the floor and Sydney Smith made the lay-up for 25-24 Pirates at halftime.
In the third quarter, Colton sophomore Kelly worked the inside to build a Wildcats lead. Devorak hit a three-pointer to put Colton up by five. Pomeroy answered, then after a Colton turnover, Halbert made two free throws to cut the lead to 41-40 with five seconds left in the quarter.
Colton inbounded, whipped the ball to Patchen and Pomeroy's Smith denied her three-point attempt at the buzzer.
The Wildcats then took control in the fourth quarter, making free throws to seal it.
Devorak led Colton with 14 points while Kelly and Patchen each scored 13.
Oakesdale 52
Pomeroy 47
After Pomeroy's fight the night before, they dressed for the second-place game against the Nighthawks to settle the final entry to regionals. This time the Pirates opened down 12-2. Trailing by 15 at halftime, in the third quarter they stormed back, cutting the Oakesdale lead to 39-38 at the start of the fourth.
“It was game on,” said Nighthawks coach Ken Lindgren.
Oakesdale went up eight points and Pomeroy cut it back to one with less than two minutes left in the game.
Logan Reed hit a key basket for Oakesdale, was fouled and missed the free throw.
With the clock ticking down and Pomeroy fouling, Reed made one of two free throws, and Lindsey Lindgren made one of two.
Oakesdale held on to win.
“This is a solid district down here,” said Lindgren, a longtime Oakesdale coach and WIAA executive.
Senior Jacey Johnson led the Nighthawks with 18 points while Emma Perry had 10 and Reed nine.
Halbert led Pomeroy with 15 points as the team's lone senior starter.
“She left her heart there on the floor,” said Lindgren.
Madison Dixon added nine rebounds and nine points for Pomeroy.
“We shot the ball a little better this time and rebounded better,” Lindgren said of this game compared to his team's tournament-opening loss to the Pirates.
In a side note, Oakesdale and Pomeroy met in the last two state 1B volleyball finals, the Nighthawks winning both.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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