Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Colfax boys staked a third-quarter lead and made it stand up Friday night to end Northwest Christian’s hoop string at 22 games. The big win at Mt. Spokane netted the district trophy and the number-one slot in this Friday’s critical regional game.
Colfax has been paired against Oroville Friday at 8 p.m. back on the Mt. Spokane court for a chance to get to the three-game Big B show the following week in Spokane.
Northwest Christian, the defending champs, bounced back Wednesday to take a 54-36 win over Davenport to claim the number-two ticket to the regional show.
Unlike the two games in the league race this winter, Friday’s title game saw Colfax stake a lead in the third quarter and make it stick all the way to the final buzzer. The Crusaders, who had trouble keeping the ball, couldn’t get closer than six points. It ended at 56-50 with Bulldog fans roaring.
“It was really huge for us,” Coach Reece Jenkin said. He added the Bulldogs bagged the district trophy after three shots in the title round.
“I think it was the best defensive game we’ve had in years. We just managed to come up with a full game,” he added.
Senior Justin Berarducci, who was out of the lineup when Colfax went to NWC in the second league round, finished with 21 points. Berarducci was decked early in the second half Friday, but he returned to the action after a checkup.
One big key to the win was 3-point shots. Kyle Johnson hit four, Brandon Gfeller hit three and Berarducci added one for a total of 24 points outside the 3-point perimeter.
Jenkin noted the threebies played a big part in getting NWC’s big players to loosen up the place where they dominate, in the paint zone under the bucket.
“You have to hit those outside shots to get them to come out,” Jenkins said.
Northwest Christian, which also had trouble coping with the Bulldogs’ speed, finished with 22 turnovers, 10 more then the Bulldogs.
After Berarducci hit the deck in the third quarter, the Bulldogs refused to bend. Johnson hit one of his threebies to tie it at 37-37, and the Bulldogs took a two-point lead off a pair of toss shots from Jay Hart.
The quarter ended 45-41 after Nick Kiorkas scored off an NWC steal in the final seconds.
Gfeller started the last quarter with another 3-pointer and Colfax kept up the pressure. They posted their largest lead, 52-43, when Skylar Simonson hooked in his second bucket around NWC’s 6-7 Reuben Harris. The shot, which gained TV notoriety, pegged the nine-point edge with 4:43 left and fans on both sides wondered if Colfax could hold it against the veteran Crusader club.
The Crusaders had their comeback reputation at full polish after they pulled off a charge win against Davenport in the semi-final round,
It went to 54-46 with 2:28 left after NWC’s Clark was called for his fifth foul, and Gfeller picked up two beans at the line.
Berarducci hit the last Colfax bucket and Kwinn Hanson had two more hits for the Crusaders before they ran out of time with a 56-50 Colfax win locked on the Wildcat scoreboard.
That marked the first loss for the defending state champs since they were derailed by Colfax in the second league round last year.
Oroville will travel to Mt. Spokane Friday as the number-four qualifier from the big District 5-6 regional at Eastmont.
Northwest will play White Swan at 6 p.m. in the other one-game decider for the state’s final eight stage next week at Spokane.
Two other teams out of the big Eastmont tourney, Lake Roosevelt and White Swan, will travel south to play SE finalists Waitsburg/Prescott and Dayton.
Colfax 58-Northwest Christian 52: 16/20 11/11 18/10 13/11: Brandon Gfeller 4 (3-3pt) 4-4 15, Kyle Johnson 4 (all 3pt) 2-3 14, Jay Hart 1 2-2 4, Justin Berarducci 8 (3pt) 4-5 21, Skylar Simonson 2 0-0 4. Total: 19/45 12/15 f-12 52. Northwest Christian: Nick Kiourkas 2 (3-pt)0-0 5, Dakota Winward 7 (2-3pt) 4-6 20, Kwinn Hanson 7 4-518, Clark Reuben 4 1-2 9. Total: 20/36 9-13 f-17 52.
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