Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The Colton girls are back.
Last seen dismantling Sunnyside Christian to finish third in state for 2017, ending their record streak at eight 1B championships in a row, the team returned to action Monday at the Colfax jamboree.
Led by 13th year coach Clark Vining (288-37), this year’s Wildcats roster includes three returning starters and seven lettermen.
Junior guards Jordyn Moerhle and Dakota Patchen were all-league as sophomores a year ago and played significant minutes as freshmen. Emily Schultheis, a junior post, is also back, along with post Georgia Meyer, a senior. Backups Maggie Pluid and Abby Kelly return also on the inside.
New players expected to contribute include freshman Rylee Vining at guard and Josie Schultheis, another freshman guard. Sophomore Taylor Thomas will join varsity at the post.
The two key graduates Colton will need to replace are three-year starting guard Kendyl Druffel and Meghan Devorak, another veteran guard.
“We seem to have a pretty versatile group of players,” said Coach Vining. “We will be able to throw some different looks on the floor this year. We have a pretty good group of returners coming back from last year’s team.”
BOYS
A new era begins for Colton basketball this weekend with a 2017-18 lineup without longtime key contributors Brady Chadwick, Grant Kinzer and Peter Schultheis, who all graduated in the spring.
Kinzer was the last to play in the 2014 state 1B championship game while Chadwick was a three-year starter and Schultheis was a presence inside for the past two years.
Now, Colton will have just one senior, guard Matt Wolf, who joins Reece Chadwick, a junior forward as the two returning starters. Beyond that, sixth man Luke Vining is out as of now recovering from a football leg injury.
“We’re a totally different team this year,” said second-year coach Nick Simons. “We should be very quick, very athletic.”
Expected to see action is Parker Druffel, another junior, at post, along with Brady Stout, a junior forward moving up from J.V., and sophomore post Jackson Meyer, also a J.V. player a year ago. Jon Bean is a new sophomore post expected to play.
Colton finished last year with a record of 16-10 (9-5 league), ending the season with a loss in regionals to Wellpinit.
The new season began with the first practice Nov. 13 and the opening game is Friday at home vs. a traveling team from Australia.
“I just got this roster, it’s all in centimeters,” said Simons. Colton will also play Saturday at Genesee.
The Wildcats face a Southeast 1B league with an outright favorite in Pomeroy. They have three returning starters, including last year’s league player of the year Jake Tewalt.
“I think they’re favored to win the league for sure,” Simons said. “I could see them making a deep run at state too.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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