Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The Colton girls took their 11th consecutive District Nine championship in Walla Walla last Friday with a 45-33 win over Pomeroy, who had played tight with them in the regular season.
Colton took a steady, early lead as the game started, and kept it while the Pirates’ boys team sat in the bleachers holding giant cardboard faces of the girls.
The cardboard remained at their knees, though, as Colton’s Dakota Patchen drove to the basket to make it 20-6 Wildcats with 1:30 left in the second quarter.
Nearing the end of the half, Pomeroy had possession to work for a last shot but Colton freshman Rylee Vining stole the ball on the dribble at the top of the key. The two teams then left the quiet gym for the locker room, the Pomeroy crowd twice the size of Colton’s – as the Pirate boys were to play next for their championship.
Into the third quarter, the game changed. The gym stirred. Pomeroy’s Sydney Smith opened with a three-pointer to cut the score to 22-12. A putback by the Pirates’ Maddy Dixon soon made it 22-16, then Colton’s Jordyn Moehrle dribbled off her foot amidst pressure defense.
Was this game about to kick in after all?
Sydney Smith hit two free throws for 24-19. The crowd was in force. Cardboard faces rose. Patchen answered with a drive and basket, 26-19 Colton, then Patchen to Emily Schultheis underneath, 28-19. The cardboard faces dropped back to the knees.
At the end of the quarter, Colton led again by 10, 34-24.
For a game that promised a battle, it was like sitting down and waiting for a T.V. show to start. When it did, you would have preferred a re-run, perhaps the episode one year ago when Colton held off a valiant push by Pomeroy in the district championship game. Not this year, though, it was not necessary as the Wildcats held control to the end, advancing to regionals.
Emily Schultheis led Colton scorers with 17 points and eight rebounds in the game while Abby Kelly had nine points and Patchen posted six points and five steals. Smith and Dixon led Pomeroy, both with 12 points while Dixon got 13 rebounds.
The teams may see each other again at the state tournament in Spokane.
As a no. 1 seed, Colton will play no. 8 seed Mt. Rainier Lutheran (Tacoma) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Pullman High School. The Wildcats’ seeding guarantees they will make the final brackets in Spokane, where they will again be in the hunt for the 1B state championship – a crown they wore for a record eight consecutive years until last March.
GIRLS SECOND-
PLACE GAME:
It began with Pomeroy hitting from the outside and Oakesdale from the inside. It stayed that way for most of the first half. When the scoring blended, Pomeroy still led, taking out Oakesdale to end the Nighthawks season Feb. 17 in Walla Walla.
The Pirates, who lost to Colton the night before in the championship game, led Oakesdale the whole way, with the Nighthawks closing to within a point in the second quarter, 16-15 before two Pomeroy three-pointers quickly put them back up by 11.
Pomeroy led 26-17 at half. At the end of the third quarter, they were still ahead 35-22 when Oakesdale began to press.
The loss concluded the career of seniors Emma Perry and Madison Shrope.
Pomeroy now takes the second-place slot out of the District Nine into the state regional round this week. They play Almira/Coulee/Hartline Saturday, also at Pullman High School.
Oakesdale 51, Garfield/Palouse 49
The Vikings’ two four-year starters, Katie Arrasmith and Payson Griner, finished their careers combining for 44 points Feb. 17 in a narrow loss.
Oakesdale advanced to meet Pomeroy in the second-place game the next day.
Logan Reed led the Nighthawks with 14 points while Lizzie Perry scored 11 and Emma Perry nine.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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