Bulldogs fight off Mules, bow to Eagles

Colfax boys booked a split in pre-holiday action with a strong fourth quarter against Wahkiakum on the home court last Thursday and a loss on the road to Lakeside at Nine Mile Friday night. The loss was the second in the season for the Bulldogs who now stand at 6-2 mark with two games set this week at the West Valley holiday tournament in Spokane Valley.

The Bulldog boys were slated to play Okanogan Thursday at West Valley, and they will return to West Valley Saturday to play Newport at 1:30 p.m. After the holiday trips, Colfax will return to NE-South action next week with Liberty slated here Friday, Jan. 4.

Last Thursday, Wahkiakum and Colfax battled through three quarters before the Bulldogs pulled away with 23 points in the last quarter. Final score was Colfax 64-Wahkiakum 54.

The win came after the visiting Mules, who made a cross-state trip Wednesday to play at Colfax, tied the Bulldogs at 41-41 going into the last quarter. Colfax hit five fast points for a lead, but the Mules hung on and it went 49-49 with 3:41 left in the game. Colfax went on to score the next seven points.

Carson Cloaninger hit a three-pointer and pair of toss shots, and Bryan Rubin hit a bucket for a 56-49 lead with 1:31 left. The Mules made one more charge to get within five, but Colfax nailed it with Kelan Becker and Bennett Gray each collecting on toss shots as the Mules scrambled to get possession of the ball.

Cloaninger finished with 26 points to again lead the Bulldogs.

Friday on the road trip to Nine Mile, the Bulldogs had trouble getting traction against the Eagles who hosted with a 6-2 record going into the non-league tilt. Theme for the win by the birds was "let it fly"; they hit nine three-point shots for the game.

Senior Bryan Rubin had his best night yet with a 19 total points and Cameron Hiatt finished with 10 for the Bulldogs.

The long shots the Eagles collected from the perimeter reflected in a thin night for fouls. Only 12 shots were launched from the line by the two teams.

The loss went down as the second for the Bulldog boys who took a 5-1 mark to Nine Mile with the lone prior loss to St. George's.

Lakeside 56-Colfax 50: 14/13 20/12 6/8 16/15: Williams 5 (3-3pt) 0-0 13, Holmes 4 (3 -3-pt) 0-0 10, Cox 6 (2-3pt 0-0 16, Giesa 2 (3pt) 0- 0 5, Harrington 5 0-0 10, Strong 0 1-2 1. Total 22-3-6 f-8 56. Colfax: Cameron Hiatt 5 0-0 10, Cole Baerlocher 1 0-0 2, Bryan Rubin 8 3-6 19, Carson Cloaninger 3 2-2 9, John Lustig 1 0-0 2, Kelan Becker 4 0-0 8. Total 16 5-7 f-9 50.

Colfax 64-Wakiakum 54: 13/15 14/9 14/15 23/15: Hunter Claassen 3 (3pt) 0-0 7, Hiatt 1 (3pt) 0-0 3, Bennett Gray 2 2-2 6, Baerlocher 1 0-0 2, Rubin 4 1-1 9, Cloaninger 10 (2-3pt) 4-4 26, Becker 4 3-6 11. Total 24 10-16 f-15 64. Wahkiakum: Luke Brown 1 2-2 4, Logan LaBarge 1 0-1 2, Brody Carlson 3 0-1 6, Jake Leitz 3 (2-3pt) 3-3 11, KC Beery 1 1-1 3, Issac Moon 2 (both 3pt) 0-0 6, Quinton Nelson 7 (2 -3pt) 2-5 18, Total: 20 8-13 f-13 54.