Dragons pull away to end Colfax boys’ year

Colfax boys came to the end of their hoop season Saturday in the last round of the NE district play at West Valley High School. The Bulldogs were downed by St. George's 62-49 in the game for the third and last NE ticket to the states's round of 16 finalists.

Colfax went into the last-chance game after hammering Lind/Ritzville/Sprague 60-21 in the NE's Thursday elimination round.

They dropped into the consolation bracket Feb. 15 after being hammered by Northwest Christian, the NE league's juggernaut, 65-44 in the semi-final round.

The three-game run left the Colfax boys at 2-2 in NE district play, one win short of continuing their season.

This year's season stretched beyond last year's playoff finish when the Bulldog boys were stopped in an early elimination round of the NE league.

Northwest Christian went on to top Liberty 61-57 in the NE title game Saturday to decide the first two tickets to state. Now rated fifth in the new WIAA standings, the Crusaders will play number-four Brewster Saturday at Wenatchee in the regional round.

Liberty, rated 12th, will play White Swan at University, and St. George's, rated 11th, will play Kalama, also at University.

In Saturday's last Bulldog game at West Valley, St. George's posted an early lead, and Colfax came back to tie it at 16-16 early in the second quarter before they gave ground.

After trailing 20-26 at the half, Colfax came within five points in the third quarter when Carson Cloaninger hit a pair of three-pointers, but the Dragons again pulled away and booked a strong finish, a 22-15 edge in the last quarter.

The elimination loss for Colfax came from a team the Bulldogs defeated 51-46 on the Colfax court back in January.

One big change for the Dragons was the 29 points hit by Erik Farias, the Dragons' sophomore guard who turned out to be a magnet for Colfax fouls, particularly at the end of the elimination game. Farias, who hit 10 points when the Dragons lost at Colfax Jan. 21, hit 13-of-26 off the foul line Saturday.

Colfax senior Danny Robinson finished his last Colfax game with 13 points, and senior Jared Kneale finished with eight.

In the Thursday elimination round, Colfax hammered Lind/Ritzville/Sprague 60-21. They had a 35-15 edge at the half and allowed the Broncos just six more points in the last two quarters. Cloaninger hit five three-point shots against the Broncos to lead Colfax scoring with 17 points. Jaydon Soncarty hit 15 against the Broncos.

Colfax matched up with LRS Thursday after getting hammered by Northwest Christian in the semi-final round. Crusader Ryan Ricks hit 20 points, a moderate night for him, in the semi round which sent Colfax into the elimination bracket.

Colfax actually launched with a 10-point lead over the Crusaders and held on for a 27-26 edge at the half, but the Crusaders came out after the break and swooped past the Bulldogs with a 22-6 run in the third quarter. Colfax scored just 17 points over the last two quarters. Robinson led Colfax with 13 points in the semi-final game.

Northwest Christian 65-Colfax 44: 8/18 15/9 22/6 17/11: Danny Robinson 13, Jaydon Soncarty 11, Carson Cloaninger 3, Caleb Berquist 5, Brett Kincaid 3, Kellen Becker 2, Chase Baerlocher 2, Jared Kneale 5. Northwest Christian: Rolf Veenstra 13, Ryan Ricks 20, Ryan Harman 4, Thomas Brown 3, Asher Cox 18, Nolan Burns 4, Tristan Carolus-Knutson 3.

Colfax 60-Lind/Ritzville/Sprague 21:14/7 21/8 20/4 5/2: Robinson 13, Soncarty 15, Cloaninger 17, Berquist 5, Kincaid 5, Becker 2, Kneale 3. Lind/Ritzville/Sprague: Patrick Bartz 6, Michael Shields 2, Camden Smith 6, Austin Thompson 3, David Zeibell 4.

St. George's 62-Colfax 49: 14/10 12/10 14/14 22/15: Robinson 13, Soncarty 8, Cloaninger 8, Berquist 12, Kneale 8. St. George's: Erik Farias 29, Noah Halliburton-Link 4, Cade Peplinski 10, Dan Rigsby 4, Zac Steele 3, Mitchell Ward 10, Xavier Werkman 2.