Strong fourth quarter lifts Colfax to win

REARDAN - The Screaming Eagles faced another tough matchup when Colfax, boasting a 10-1 record, came to town. The Bulldogs, led by Adrik Jenkin, pulled away late in the game to win 64-52 on Friday, Jan. 6.

Behind the scoring of Jakari Singleton and Tristin McCrea, Reardan jumped out to a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The teams traded buckets in the second quarter, which featured a duel between Colfax's Seth Lustig and Reardan's Logan Flaa, who each hit crucial shots from the field. Each player scored 11 first half points. Colfax went into the locker room leading 30-28.

Reardan kept it close in the third quarter. Flaa hit two shots from 3-point land and Rysen Soliday added another. Colfax countered Reardan's outside shooting with a balanced scoring attack spread evenly between six players. At the end of three quarters, Colfax maintained a 46-42 lead.

The Bulldogs took control of the game in the fourth quarter. After Jenkin hit two treys, the Bulldogs were off and running, never to look back. Baskets by Mason Gilchrist, Jaxon Wick and James Wigen allowed Colfax to outscore Reardan 18-10 in the final stanza to secure the 64-52 victory.

Jenkin hit five 3-point shots to lead the Bulldogs in scoring with 15 points. Lustig, Bradyn Heilsberg and Wick scored 13, nine and eight points, respectively. Lustig also had seven assists. James Wigin controlled the boards for Colfax by securing six rebounds.

Flaa led Reardan in scoring with 18 points. He was followed by Soliday with 14 points and Singleton, who added 10 points along with 12 rebounds.

"Our energy was high, and it was a close game," Jenkin said. "We did a good job rebounding, moving the ball, scoring and taking time off the clock at the end of the game."

"I thought it was a tough basketball game," Colfax head coach Reece Jenkin said. "We have some good teams in the league. This wasn't our best game, but our kids continued to grind and found a way to get a win. We made a few mistakes but hopefully we'll learn from them and get

better."

"Colfax is a good team," Reardan head coach Brian Graham said. "We played well against them, but our execution was lacking in the fourth quarter and that's why they pulled away. Rysen (Soliday) did a fantastic job holding Lustig to 13, but we couldn't stop Jenkin. He let it fly."

The win improved Colfax's overall record to 11-1 and 7-0 in NE2B games. Reardan dropped to 5-6 overall and 3-3 in league.

Colfax went on to beat Northwest Christian on Jan. 7 by a score of 57-55, led by Lustig's 16 points. JP Wigen added a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds and Mason Gilchrist had 12 points and eight rebounds.

The Bulldogs suffered just their second loss of the season Jan. 9 against 1A school Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls, a 60-58 result.

Lustig paced Colfax with 24 points and six assists, and Wigen added 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Colfax stands at 11-2 overall on the season and 6-0 in league competition.

Colfax will next be in action at 7:30 Friday, Jan. 13, in a league 2B matchup against the first-place Davenport Gorillas at Davenport High School.