Bulldog girls win NE title, face Napavine in playoff

Above: Colfax senior Abbie Miller drives the baseline against Davenport's Janaye Wilkie.

Below: Bulldog girls leap off the bench after the final buzzer seals their win Saturday.

Colfax girls detonated for a 13-0 lead Saturday against Davenport and held on through a dramatic finish to win the NE championship game at West Valley. The girls finish with a 58-54 win to finish a 3-0 run in the NE and take home the NE trophy.

Despite winning the NE title, the Bulldog girls landed in the number-five slot in the WIAA ratings system and will be required to travel across the the state and play fourth-ranked Napavine Friday in a playoff game at W.F. West High School at Chehalis. A win will put them in the eight-team grid to start the three-game state 2B run March 1 at the Spokane Arena. A loss will put them in an elimination game Wednesday, Feb. 28, against the winner of the Brewster-Mossyrock elimination game Saturday at Wenatchee.

Saturday at West Valley against Davenport in the NE title game, Colfax started with a 13-0 explosion with Carmen Gfeller hitting most of the points.

“We just played great defense,” Coach Corey Baerlocher commented. The Bulldogs rapped steals and forced turnovers by the Gorillas who were rattled by the Bulldogs’ fast start.

A highlight of the early explosion was a steal be Gfeller who took it all the way down the court for two more points during the Colfax breakout.

Davenport didn’t get on the scoreboard until 1:27 of the first quarter when Janaye Wilkie hit a pair of toss shots. Wilkie followed that with a three-point shot, and the first quarter finished with a 16-7 Colfax lead.

Coach Baerlocher noted the Bulldogs backed off on defense, and Davenport erased six point off the big Colfax lead in the second quarter.

The second half featured a chase with the Gorillas never quite getting over the top. Colfax led 43-36 after three quarters.

Wilkie went back to the toss line and hit three of four toss shot to get the Gorilla within four points. One more toss hit cut the score to 49-46 with 2:21 left.

Davenport came within a point, 54-53 when Sydney Zeiler hit a three-pointer with 27 seconds left.

Greta Geier, who hit a bucket down the stretch, then capped it with four toss shots. Geier went to the line twice on calls made when Davenport hit the scramble button to get possession of the ball.

The win by Colfax came after they lost to the Gorillas at Davenport in the lone clash between the two teams during the league run.

She hit the first two for a 56-53 lead. Davenport’s Darby Soliday hit one toss shot for a 56-54 gap, and Geier went to the line again with five seconds left. She again hit both shots to leave the Gorillas four points back with 5.1 seconds left.

Gfeller, finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. Geier finished with 16 points including the 4-4 count on toss shots.

Davenport was led by Wilkie who finished with 14. The Gorillas lost Sydney Abbott on a fifth foul call with 4:27 left in the game.

Gfeller was named the league’s MVP award during the all-league presentations, and Piper Cai was also named to the all-opponent team.

Coach Baerlocher shared the league’s top coaching honors with Daveport’s Stacia Soliday and Northwest Christian’s Talara Frost.

Napavine will play Colfax after placing second to Ilwaco, the team which received the WIAA’s number-one rating.

Colfax 58-Davenport 54: 16/7 12/16 15/13 15/18: Skylre Sakamoto-Howell 1 0-0 3, Piper Cai 1 (3pt) 1-4 4, Taylre Sakamoto-Howell 2 (3pt) 2-2 7, Carmen Gfeller 10 (2 3pt) 0-3 22, Greta Geier 5 (2-3pt) 4-4 16, Rachel Brown 3 0-0 6. Total 22 7-14 f-19 58. Davenport Macie Hopkins 1 (3pt) 0-0 3, Sydney Abbott 4 2 -6 10, Darby Soliday 1 3-6 5, Ellie Telford 2 0-0 4, Janaye Wilkie 5 (3pt) 3-6 14, Lainy Jacobson 4 (3pt) 0-1 9, Sydney Zeiler 2 (3pt) 4-6 9. Total 19 12-25 f-18 54.