Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Colton’s Wildcat girls will start their quest for an unprecedented seventh straight state title Thursday at Spokane Arena at 2 p.m. against a 21-1 Pateros team in the first round of 1B action.
Colton will arrive at Spokane with a 68-game win streak and six straight state title wins. They advanced to state with a 68-43 crunch over Almira/Coulee/ Hartline in the first game of the regionals Friday at Cheney High School
Pateros advanced to the state’s final eight with a 44-32 win over Odessa-Harrington
The Colton-Pateros matchup is in the bottom of the eight-team bracket opposite Neah Bay and Mary Knight, with the first day winners advancing to Friday’s 5:30 p.m. semifinal game.
Four Colton seniors who will wrap up their hoop careers at state will be Haley Meyer, Winnie Schultheis, Courtney Kimberling and Savannah Chadwick.
One of the other powers in the Spokane campaign will be Republic which also arrivies with a 24-0 record.
Republic crunched Muckleshoot Tribal 69-25 in the regional round Saturday at Mt. Spokane. Muckleshoot qualified the regionals’ greatest distance award in making the trip to the Peone Prairie game site.
Republic plays in the 1B opener today at 9 a.m. against Evergeen Lutheran which took out Lake Quinault 61-35 on the west side to get to the regional.
The 1B tourney grid could feature a battle of the undefeateds in the title game if the Tigers and the Wildcats extend their win streaks through the first two rounds of the Spokane show.
Friday at Cheney, the ACH girls arrived with an 8-5 record. The Warriors sustained losses in two of their last three games, but drubbed Valley Christian 52-26 to qualify for the regional trip to Cheney.
ACH dropped the first bucket at Cheney Friday night, and the Wildcats took possession of the ball, drove to the court for an extended round of missed shots and offensive rebounds followed by more misses.
The Warriors added another bucket and moved their lead to 4-0.
Colton finally hit with 3:48 left in the quarter when Meghan Devorack came off the bench for the first Colton score.
Colton tied it at 4-4 with 2:58 left in the quarter. Zoe Moser started her big day with a steal and a cashed it to put Colton ahead 6-4 with 2:40 left in the quarter. The Warriors never saw the lead again after that, and the Wildcats really picked up traction when Kendyl Druffel hit a three pointer.
Colton stacked eight more points in the last two minutes of the quarter and finished the frame with a 17-8 lead.
By the time the first half was over, Colton had a 40-22 lead.
Colton rolled out a stack of points by moving the ball around the perimeter. The Wildcats bombed the Warriors for 11 three-point shots in the game with Moser hitting four of them and MaryAnn Jacobs dropping three.
Moser scored 20 of her 22 points in the first half of the game which saw Coach Clark Vining roll out reserves in the second half as the margin grew.
Senior Reinnee Rockett led the Warriors with 16 points. Rockett had three of the three-point shots for the Warriors.
Colton coach Clark Vining has lead the team since 2005. A year later, the Wildcats made the state tournament for the first time.
This year’s team stars a fourth Moser sister, Zoe, part of a family which has been a constant in the Wildcats’ surge.
The state tournament will begin Thursday at the Spokane Arena, concluding Saturday evening with 1B and 2B championship games for boys and girls.
ALMIRA/COULEE/HARTLINE (18-6)
Tiffany Boutine 0 2-3 2, Brenna Oliver 4 1-3 10, Kenzadee Loomis 0 0-0 0, Verlyn Hunt 2 2-3 7, Rinee Rockett 4 5-6 16, Nohmey Morano 0 0-0 0, Rachel Bresee 0 0-0 0, Kara Oliver 1 0-1 3, Caitlin O’Neal 1 1-1 3, Bailey Cappone 0 0-0 0, Katie Emerson 1 0-2 2. Totals 13 11-19 43.
COLTON (24-0)
Savannah Chadwick 2 3-4 9, Zoe Moser 9 0-0 22, Haley Meyer 0 0-0 0, Winnie Schultheis 2 0-0 4, Rachel Meyer 2 0-0 4, Kendyl Druffel 4 1-6 11, Meghan Devorak 3 1-2 7, Courtney Kimberling 0 0-0 0, MaryAnn Jacobs 4 0-1 11, Georgia Meyer 0 0-0 0, Emma Schultheis 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 5-13 68.
ACH 8 14 9 12–43 Colton 17 23 20 8–68Three-point goals – B. Oliver, Hunt, Rockett 3, K. Oliver, Moser 4, Jacobs 3, Druffel 2, Chadwick 2. Total fouls – ACH 15, Colton 21. Fouled out – none.
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