Bulldogs bounce Gorillas, Crusaders to advance

Colfax boys Saturday at West Valley kept in the hunt for state action with a 61-52 win over Davenport to capture the NE league’s consolation bracket and the third ticket to state action. The Bulldogs are now in the state’s round of 16 teams which will be pared down to eight teams for the final three days of state action next week at the Spokane Arena.

Colfax is booked to play Crosspoint Academy of Bremerton Saturday at Pullman High School. The 6 p.m. game is among a series of playoff rounds which will be hosted at Pullman.

Crosspoint will arrive at Pullman with a 13-7 record. The Warriors defeated Orcas Island and lost to Friday Harbor over the weekend’s play-off rounds for District One in the northwest corner of the state.

Crosspoint plays in the SeaTac league which combines B and 2B schools during the season.

The Warriors are rated 14th in the 16-team play-off field, and the Bulldogs are rated 11th

Colfax Saturday at West Valley faced the Gorillas after they zapped Northwest Christian 54-53 with Caleb Berquist hitting a go-ahead bucket in the last two seconds of last Thursday’s tournament elimination game. The one-point elimination win countered a three-point edge NWC posted when they visited Colfax in mid-January.

Davenport advanced to Saturday’s showdown with a Thursday elimination win over the LRS Broncos.

Saturday Colfax roared for an 18-7 tally in the second quarter after leading the Gorillas by just a point after the first frame. Carson Cloaninger hit three three-pointers in the quarter to fuel the Colfax run.

Colfax led 32-20 at the half. Davenport erased seven points off the lead with a big third quarter, but they were unable to get past the Bulldogs.

Cloaninger, who was contained to four points against the Crusaders in the Thursday round, finished with four threebies and a total of 16 points.

Cal Gregory, one of the Bulldogs’ key insides, also finished with 16 and hit two treys.

Davenport actually came within a point of catching the Bulldogs early in the fourth quarter, but Jaydon Soncarty picked up a bucket and a toss shot to widen the lead. With five minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs had the lead to 54-45.

Thursday, Colfax and Northwest Christian battled into overtime with Caleb Berquist hitting the go-ahead bucket with two seconds left on the game. Berquist, who topped a strong tourney run by hitting a game high 23 against the Crusaders, took an in-bounds pass from Soncarty and zapped it for the 54-53 elimination of the Crusaders.

The bucket capped a comeback for the Bulldogs who trailed by seven points early in the fourth quarter.

The first Colfax escape game at the end of the regulation time when Cloaninger hit a putback to tie it at 45-45 and put the game into the frantic overtime session.

Colfax was sent to the league’s consolation round after they lost to St. George’s in the semi-final round. That meant they had to get past the Crusaders, a semi loser to Liberty, and the Gorillas to make the state round of 16.

A Colfax win Saturday at Pullman will put the Bulldogs up against the loser of the Liberty-Toledo playoff game which which be played at Chehalis.

Cloaninger, a junior, was named the NE league’s most valuable player in a halftime observance of the girls title game Saturday. Soncarty was also named for all-league honors for the NE boys.

Colfax 54-Northwest Christian 53: 12/14 6/10 14/1013/11: Jaydon Soncarty 4 1-2 9, Carson Cloaninger 2 0-0 4, Caleb Berquist 10 3-3 23, Brett Kincaid 3 1-2 7, Cal Gregory 2 5-10 9, Keith Becker 1 0-0 2 . Total 22 10-17 f-14 54. Northwest Christian Jacob Gray 1 0-0 2, Reed Loranger 7 (3pt) 2-3 17, Zachary Starkey 1 (3pt) 0-0 3, Eckahelo Simpson 6 2-3 14, Dane Simpson 3 (2-3pt) 0-0 8, Kobe Simpson 1 (3pt) 0-0 3, Josh Maynard 2 2-4 6. Total 21 6-12 f-17 53.

Colfax 61- Davenport 52: 14/13 18/7 14/20 15/12: Bryan Rubin 2 0-0 4, Soncarty 3 3-3 9, Cloaninger 5 (4 3pt) 2-2 16, Berquist 3 (2 3pt) 1-2 9, Kincaid 0 5-6 5, Gregory 5 (2 3pt) 4-8 15, Becker 1 0-0 2, . Total 19 1521 f-15 61. Davenport Tanner Abbott 3 (2 3pt) 8, Izaiah Bowdish 3 (2 3pt) 0-0 8, Peyton Buchanan 4 4-7 12, Jay Burt 4 4-5 12, Andrew Duff 0 3-4 3, Jaden Flett 1 2-2 4, A.J.Floyd 1 3-4 5. Total 16 16-22 f-19 52.