Colfax boys win 2 at West Valley tourney

--Julie Kinkaid photo

Colfax senior Austin Ring dunks against Colton at West Valley in Spokane Dec. 27.

Colfax boys extended their win string by pegging wins Thursday and Friday in the West Valley Christmas Classic. Colfax topped Colton 64-41 in the Thursday round, and then defeated a bigger team from Sandpoint, Idaho, 57-41 Friday afternoon.

The pair of tourney wins left Colfax at 8-2 when they resume NE league play Friday night at St. George’s against the Dragons.

Colfax will make the trip after running six wins in the pre-holiday segment of NE league competition.

Thursday morning at West Valley the Bulldogs rolled out a 17-0 first quarter lead over the Wildcats on the way to the 62-41 win.

Carson Cloaninger hit a season high seven 3-point shots against the Wildcats and finished with 23 points. Cal Gregory hit 11.

The Bulldogs bombed Colton for a total of 11 threebies.

Colton came back for a solid second quarter, but could not close the early Bulldog lead.

Parker Druffel led Colton with 20 points, and Reece Chadwick hit 16. Chadwick hit three treys for the Wildcats.

In a rare matchup with Sandpoint, a team which plays in the Inland Empire league, Colfax scratched out a 27-23 lead at the half and held the Idaho Bulldogs to just 18 points in the second half.

Cloaninger was back for 19 points and Jaydon Soncarty hit 18 for Colfax.

Friday’s early collision of two NE league leaders had a degree of foreshadowing Dec. 27 when the Dragons made their lone show at West Valley by also facing Colton.

St. George’s, like Colfax, got the drop on the Wildcats early with a 26-1 score after the first quarter. The Dragons posted a 83-34 win.

Colfax 57-Sandpoint 41: 11/1316/10 13/9 17/9: Bryan Rubin 2 0-0 4, Jaydon Soncarty 7 4-7 18, Carson Cloaninger 7 ( 3-3pt) 2-4 19, Caleb Berquist 2 2-2 6, Brett Kincaid 2 1-2 5, Cal Gregory 1 (3pt) 2-2 5. Total 21 11-17 f-10 57. Sandpoint: Niemela 1 0-0 2, Davis 3 (3pt) 2-5 9, Jones 2 (3pt) 0-1 5, Johnson 5 (3pt) 1-1 12, Stockton 5 0-2 10. Total: 17 3-9 f-12 41.

Colfax 62-Colton 41: 17/0 16/18 21/12 7/11: Rubin 2 (3pt) 1-1 5, Cloaninger 8 (7-3pt) 0-23, Berquist 3 (3pt) 7, Kincaid 2 0-0 4, Gregory 4 (2-3pt) 1-3 11, Kelan Becker 1 0-0 2, Cameron Hiatt 1 (3 pt) 0-0 3, Austin Ring 3 1-3 7. Total: 24 3-9 f-17 62. Colton: Matt Wolf 1 1-2 3, Jackson Meyer 1 0-0 2 Reece Chadwick 5 (3pt) 5-8 16, Parker Druffel 8 (3pt) 3-6 20. Total 15 9-15 f-9 41