Colton drops bait for eight

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Nov 25, 20150

To everything there is a season, even one without a Moser on the roster.

The time is approaching in Colton, but not yet. For another winter between Pullman and Uniontown, one or more of the four Moser sisters will star on the Wildcats' seven-time defending 1B state champion basketball team.

Zoe Moser is a senior, the last of Jenna, Haley and Kelsey.

Another senior in the Southeast 1B league awaits.

Cierra Jo McKeown, of Touchet, who nearly undid the Wildcats' state record 71-game winning streak by solo act at last year's district championship game in Clarkston, leads a team with almost everyone back.

For Colton, they return two starters – Moser and Rachel Meyer – and look to replace Savannah Chadwick, who graduated as the 1B State Player of the Year.

“We'll find out who will,” said coach Clark Vining. “I'm sure somebody will step up.”

A total of seven lettermen return, including guards Kendyl Druffel, Meghan Devorak and MaryAnn Jacobs, and post players Georgia Meyer and Emma Schultheis. Seven new freshmen join the roster.

The team will matchup in what is expected to be a strong Southeast 1B league.

“I think the whole league is going to be pretty good,” Vining said. “A lot of players back on each team. It's probably the best league in the state for sure at 1B.”

Colton will open the season against Colfax Dec. 4 at home in their new gym – which was expanded as part of a school-wide remodeling project this year.

Vining and assistant Ben Emerson have run practice with a somewhat lighter schedule in late November than in other years. Vining, who also coaches the Wildcats' football team, has often held girls' basketball practice in the early morning and football in the afternoon as the team advances in the state playoffs.

This year the football team lost in a tie-breaker to miss out on the last league playoff spot.

So it is all basketball now for Vining.

“I'd rather be doing both but it has been a good start (with the girls), getting back in the gym,” he said. “Biggest challenge is to get everyone on the same page, trying to get a little bit better at that every day in practice.”

One item remains – the t-shirts to commemorate the team's drive for the state championship. They have had one each of the last six years: 'Punching Our Tix For Six', 'Shooting For Seven.'

What will it be for eight?

“We're still working on that,” said Vining. “We'll come up with something.”

In the quest for another state title, Zoe Moser will make her final bow as part of a streak her oldest sister helped start in Colton in 2008. Since then, a Moser or two have played key roles in all of the Wildcats' championships.