Win over Broncs moves Colfax girls back to top

Haley Sandmann of the Wildcats chases the ball over the baseline in front of Carmen Hall in the Friday night game at Colfax.

Colfax girls Tuesday defeated the Ritzville Broncos 50-34 on the home court to stay in the running for the league’s top spot. The Ritzville girls arrived at Colfax Tuesday after knocking off Reardan, previously undefeated in league play, by a point in the Saturday round. That left Colfax and Reardan tied at the top of the league.

Reardan bounced back Tuesday for a big win over Davenport to tie up the league at 7-1 each.

Colfax came out with a blistering defense Tuesday against the Broncos. The Bulldog girls rolled up 27 fouls in cranking up the pressure, but the Broncos hit a lean 14-32 off the line.

Colfax defenders held off Kelsy Arlt, top Bronco scorer, until the last quarter when she broke out with two threebies and an inside shot.

Colfax Coach Corey Baerlocher said the Bulldog defenders lost track of Arlt in the last quarter when the defensive assignment became mixed.

Ritzville plays a matchup zone defense, and the Bulldogs used a tactic to roll their players out of the zone groove.

Kayla Johnson led 10 Colfax scorers with 11 points against the Broncs.

Lind/Ritzville booked 29 turnovers against the tough Colfax defense. The Bulldogs had 23 turnovers.

Colfax picked up another league win Saturday with a 67-38 crunch of Valley Christian. They visited Valley after a 55-20 win over a young Wilbur-Creston team Friday night at home.

The Wildcats made the trip to Colfax with just a varsity team, and the Bulldog coaches sidelined the starters and allowed the jayvees to host the visitors who are in the 1B division.

The move to put the junior varsity on the floor Friday drew a note of appreciation from Wildcat officials at the start of the week. They noted the 1B Wildcat combo has been struggling to get a jayvee team going, and their varsity team included two eighth graders.

Colfax ran out a 20-4 lead in the first quarter with the Bulldog starters sitting out the action in after-practice garb behind the bench.

Taylor Lange led the Colfax scorers with 11.

The appreciation note from the Wildcats tagged the Colfax tactic “above and beyond anything we have seen.”

They added they supported Colfax joining the Bi-County two years ago because they knew Colfax was a class act.

The note came from Steve Jantz and Glenn Arland, ADs for Wilbur and Creston respectively, and Seth Dunlap, coach of the Wildcat girls.

Colfax this weekend will play both games on the road with a stop at Harrington Friday to play the SH Falcons and a stop at Davenport Saturday night.

Colfax 50-Lind/Ritzville 34: 14/5 12/6 10/7 14/16: Amelie Bruya 1 0-0 2, Brooke Webber 2 0-0 4, Hannah Harazin 1 0-0 3, Rachel Johnson 3 204 8, Kayla Johnson 3 4-7 11, Shaina Simonson 1 1-2 3, Raven Elkins 1 0-0 2, Brittney Burke 2 (2-3p-t) 0-0 6, Emily Shaw 3 0-0 6, Kayleigh Maltone 2 1-3 5. Total: 19 6-8-16 f-27 50.

Colfax 67-Valley Christian 38: 21/1116/521/8 9/14: Hannah Harazin 6 (3-3pt) 0-0 15, Rachel Johnson 1 0-0 2, Kayla Johnson 6 (3pt) 0-0 13, Shaina Simonson 5 1-1 11, Brittney Burke 6 (3-3pt) 0-0 16, Emily Shaw 1 0-0 2, Kayleigh Maltone 3 (4 pt) 1-2 8. Total 18 2-3 f-19 67. Valley Christian: Lindy Riggan 1 2-4 4, Jasmine Ayalic 1 0-2 2, Rowee Swank 2 (3pt) 0-1 5, Lacey Riggan 2 (3pt) 0-0 3, Katie Worley 7 5-7 19, Brianna Bogart 1 0-0 2, Megan Miller 2 0-0 3. Total 15 7-14 f-5 38.

Colfax 55-Wilbur/Creston 20: 20/4 18/9 10/2 7/0: Rachel Robinson 1 2-2 4, Carmen Hall 1 0-0 2, Misty Skelton 4 (3pt) 0-0 9, Taylor Lange 5 1-2 11, Lauren Moore 3 0-0 6, Elizabeth Hatley 2 2-2 6, Amelie Bruya 2 0-0 4, Maggee Cochran 1 0-0 2, JC Vontersch 1 0-0 2, Amy Hickman 4 1-2 9. Total: 24 6-8 f-18 55. Wilbur/Creston: Reed 1 0-0 2, Caitlin Hendrick 1 2-2 4, Brianne Goodlake 1 1-2 3, Mason Jaglar 1 0-0 2, Kelsey Beaver 3 0-0 6, Kim Conway 1 0-0 2, Maggie Douglas 0 1-2 1. Total 8 4-8 f-12 20.