Battle for 2nd place: Second half Colfax charge falls short

Down 20 points at the half with their SunDome shooting maladies lingering, Colfax girls Friday came out snarling before their home fans and turned on the juice against Northwest Christian.

The Bulldogs came within eight points of erasing the lead, but the NWC girls prevailed in the final minutes. The week’s lone hoop clash turned out to be a battle for second place in the league behind the undefeated Reardan team.

Northwest Christian now holds the number-two slot in the league, and the Bulldogs are in third place in front of a cluster of teams in the middle standings.

Colfax at one point early in the third Friday trailed the Crusaders by 24 points. They hit just six of 30 shots from the field in the first half while the Crusaders moved along at close to 60 percent.

The Bulldogs cut NWC’s giant lead by a point in the third quarter and then cranked up the pressure in the final frame.

They shaved the lead under 10 when Taylor Larsen hit a putback. It then went down to eight points when Amelie Bruya hit one of two toss shots.

They had 3:31 left at that point, but NWC managed to fight them off and keep the win.

“It was a great comeback. We really scrapped in the second half, but we just dug ourselves into too big of a hole,” Coach Corey Baerlocher noted.

One key stat was the 40 Bulldog turnovers, some of them actual point-blank passes to the opposition. Northwest converted 29 points off of those give-aways.

“If we can just cut down on those turnovers, then the other team doesn’t get the points and things swing the other way,” Baerlocher noted.

Colfax shooting finished with under 30 percent from the field. The Crusaders finished at an even 50 percent, 20 for 40. Coach Ashley Connell’s team launched just three shots from outside the three-point mark.

Treasure Farmer, who hit 3 for 3 from the field led the green team with 13. Farmer picked up another seven beans off the toss line.

Chanel Knight, 6 for 6 from the field, finished with 12 points. That’s a 100 percent shooting from NWC’s top two scorers.

Hannah Harazin again led Colfax scorers, this time with 12. Larsen finished with 10.

Colfax out-boarded the Crusaders 38-34 with Harazin and Taylor each snagging seven.

The Bulldogs now start a three-game road saga with a visit to St. George’s Friday and trip to Springdale Saturday. They will be back on the road the next Friday for the long trip to Kettle Falls.

Northwest Christian 57-Colfax 45: 17/7 16/6 12/13 12/19: Misty Skelton 0 3-4 3, Hannah Harazin 5 2-3 12, Nicole Sheer 2 1-1 5, Rachel Robinson 2 (3pt ) 0-0 5, Taylor Larsen 4 2-5 10, Elizabeth Hatley 1 0-2 2, Amelie Bruya 2 (2-3pt) 1-4 7, Amara Huber 0 1-2 1. Total: 16-54 10-21 f-27 45. Northwest Christian: Hanna Dietzen 0 5-7 5, Katelyn McFaul 3 0-2 6, Maria Guske 5 2-2 12, Courtney Gray 1 0-0 2, Treasure Farmer 3 7-12 13, Chanel Knight 6 0-0 12, Makenzie Gray 1 1-4 3, Alyssa Yates 1 2-4 4. Total; 20-40 17-31 F-23 57.