Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Colton boys
Colton loses another two-O.T. game days later
Down by four points with 12 seconds left, Rosalia’s Ryan Maley hit a three-point shot.
With their lead down to one, Colton sent the inbound pass to center Dalton Patchen, who the Spartans had to foul, sending him to the free-throw line.
Patchen downed both shots to leave Rosalia with no timeouts, 3.6 seconds and 96 feet from Colton’s basket.
Craig Nelson took the inbound pass, dribbled up the right side of the floor and just short of halfcourt took the shot.
96 feet dwindled to zero as the ball whipped through the net to tie the game.
At the end of the first overtime, Colton’s Brady Chadwick sent a shot toward the basket and Grant Kinzer tipped it, trying to get it to fall. It didn’t, and Patchen tipped it in to tie the game again.
In the second overtime, Rosalia (5-3, 3-1 league) pulled away, making free throws for a final score of 90-83.
It was the second Rosalia sports victory over Colton (3-3, 2-2 league) in two months that will stand to memory.
The first was a state quarterfinal playoff football game in Clarkston in which Colton quarterback Jake Straughan went out with a broken fibula and Patchen went out with a high ankle sprain and mild knee sprain.
In the basketball game last Saturday night, Colton found itself missing players again, this time with three starters fouled out late. In the fourth quarter, Wildcat freshman Grant Kinzer scored 12 points.
"He played absolutely phenomenal," said Colton coach Seth Payne. "No one knows Grant, and what he’s capable of doing."
In other scoring, Nelson led the Spartans with a game-high 41 points while Patchen delivered 29 points, 21 rebounds and 10 blocks. Carter Dahmen added 20 points for the Wildcats while Kinzer finished with 15.
The last time Payne was involved in a double-overtime game was 10 years ago when he was coaching the Gar-Pal junior varsity. That game ended in a tie when the floor needed to be cleared for the varsity game that night.
The Rosalia loss dropped Colton to 3-2 overall, 2-2 in league in a season they’ve played so far without Straughan, last year’s Southeast 1B Player of the Year, who has committed to play in college at Idaho.
Straughan is now practicing with the Wildcats and may or may not be back by the time Colton plays Rosalia again Jan. 17.
"Time will tell when his body is right enough and when he’s ready to go," Payne said.
In the meantime, Carter Dahmen plays point guard while Patchen, Jordan Druffel, Austin Meyer and Dillon Frank fill out the starting five.
Their mission is to avenge for last year, when two upsets in the district tournament ended their season.
"It was obviously disappointing," said Payne. "We had big plans, big aspirations and it’s led to a resurgence for this year."
Payne said the road will be hard again.
"This year’s gonna be a crapshoot," he said. "I think the Southeast is the toughest 1B league in the state."
As for the two-overtime loss to Rosalia, coming off the heatedfootball game in November, Payne said he was proud of the way his players kept composed.
"If you put all that emotion into one game, it can kill you," he said.
As for the Spartans, second-year coach Pat Brown’s team has one league loss to Gar-Pal. His two returning starters are Nelson and Maley, with Corey Brown, Dylan Jacobs and Clay Shelton rounding out the starting five. Coming off the bench is senior Steven Maley, who is back on the team after a knee injury during the 2012 football season made him miss the season last year.
Rosalia’s 2012-13 effort ended last year in the district tournament second-place game, which they lost to Pomeroy, after beating Colton and Gar-Pal to end their seasons.
Grangeville 62, Colton 60 (2OT)
Four days after the Wildcats two-overtime loss to Rosalia, they lost in two overtimes to non-league Grangeville Monday night.
Dalton Patchen led Colton in the loss with 20 points while Grant Kinzer and Carter Dahmen added 14 each.
Rosalia 60, LaCrosse/Washtucna 56
Craig Nelson led the Spartans with 33 points as they narrowly defeated L/W at Washtucna Jan. 3. Joe Guske led the Tigercats with 32 points in the loss.
"We played really well," said L/W coach Mike Stubbs, who took over for Mike Jones this year. "A game we should have won. Credit to them for finishing better than us."
The Tigercats’ record is now 3-5 overall, 2-2 in league for a team that returns one starter from last year, all-league senior guard Darcy Stamper. A role player on last year’s team, Guske has delivered big in several games this year.
"A very quiet leader, a very coachable young man," said Stubbs. "Every team needs a Joe Guske. This year has allowed him to blossom."
Rounding out the L/W starting five are Riley Roberts – a backup on last year’s state third-place team -- Stephan Erickson and Graham BeDell. All five are seniors.
Overall, outside of Stamper the team lacks varsity experience.
"There’s a learning curve, and every game for us is a test on that learning curve," said Stubbs.
The team will play next on Friday vs. Colton at LaCrosse followed by a game at Gar-Pal Saturday.
Colton 63, Tekoa-Oakesdale 19
Dalton Patchen led the Wildcats with 19 points and 10 rebounds as Colton took care of the Nighthawks Friday, Jan. 3.
Gar-Pal 75, Tekoa-Oakesdale 15
Tyler Thurman led the Vikings with 20 points and eight steals in the win over the Nighthawks Saturday, Jan. 4. Matt Holbrook added 10 points, six steals and seven rebounds for Gar-Pal while Mitch Jamison scored nine.
Liberty Christian 65, St. John-Endicott 56
Robert Staples and Adam Blakley led the Eagles with 16 points each in a loss to Liberty Christian Jan. 3. For the Patriots, John Lesser, Mason Sullivan and Robbie Heinman added 11.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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