Whitman County Gazette - Serving Whitman County since 1877

Colfax boys cranked up the speed and dropped Asotin 64-38 Tuesday in another league round. The home win advances Colfax to 6-2 in league play with a game Saturday at Reardan. The Indians are one of the two teams in the NE-South that pegged a win over Colfax in the first league round.

Tuesday, Colfax moved out to a fast start, pegged a 16-12 lead after the first quarter and then rolled to a 35-20 lead at the half.

Panther Coach Seth Paine had just three players on his bench, and the energy lag began to hit the Panthers as the game advanced.

Colfax had a 20-point lead before the end of the third quarter and came close to a 30-point lead before the halfway point of the last quarter.

Asotin senior Noah Renzalman again led Panther scorers and keyed a short-lived rally for the guests in the third quarter.

Tuesday's league win was the third straight for the Bulldogs who topped Tekoa/Rosalia Friday and Upper Columbia Academy Saturday.

Friday night at Tekoa, the Bulldogs ripped to a 19-3 lead in the first quarter against the Timberwolves to reduce the chances of a repeat of the double overtime battle between the NE neighbors at Colfax three weeks ago.

The T-wolves came back with a scoring spurt late in the second quarter, but Colfax took a 41-27 lead into the lockers at halftime.

The T-wolves charged again early in the third quarter and honed the Bulldogs' lead down to two possessions at one point.

After that, the TR offense flatlined with just two points in the last quarter.

Colfax Coach Reece Jenkin credited the Bulldogs with turning in a solid night on defense.

John Lustig, who finished with a game-high 29 points, and Gavin Hammer each hit three treys for Colfax.

Riley McLain and Anthony Gehring each hit 14 to lead the Timberwolves. McLain hit four treys as a partial answer to the tight Colfax defense on the inside.

At their debut on the Upper Columbia Academy boards Saturday night, Colfax powered to a 72-39 win with Lustig hitting 41 points. He put down nine three-point shots.

Evan Pierce led the hosts with 23 points.

Coach Reece Jenkin noted UCA's addition to the league lineup increases the overall NE player count to a point where the league gets one more ticket into the first round of state playoff.

Colfax 64-Asotin 38: 16/12 19/818/9 11/9: Hunter Claassen 2 (3 pt) 0-0 5, John Lustig 8 (2 3 pt) 1-2 19, Cole Baerlocher 2 (3 pt) 0-1 5, Gavin Hammer 2 (3 pt) 0-0 5, Cotton Booker 1 0-0 2, Blake Holman 6 0-1 12, Layne Gingerich 5 (3 3 pt ) 0-0 13, Kyle Dial 1 0-0 3. Total 27 1-4 64.

Asotin: Mason Nicholas 1 0-0 2, Brayden Barnea 1 3-4 5, Tanner Nicolas 2 (both 3 pt) 0- 0 6, Noah Renzalman 7 1-1 15 Nick Heier 1 0-1 3, Aaron Boyea 1 0-0 2, Ryan Denham 1 0-0 3. Total: 15 4-6 38 .

Colfax 74-Tekoa/Rosalia 47: 19/3 22/24 14/18 16/2: Hunter Claassen 5 3-4 14, Cole Baerlocher 1 0-0 2 , John Lustig 12 (3 3 pt) 2-2 29, Gavin Hammer 3 (all 3 pt) 0-0 9, Cotton Booker 3 0-0 6, Layne Gingerich 1 1-2 3, Blake Holman 4 0-0 8. Total: 29 6-8 74.

Tekoa/Rosalia: Garrett Naught 3 (2 3 pt) 0-0 8, Anthony Gehring 6 (2 3 pt) 14, Riley McLain 4 (all 3 pt) 2-2 14, Mitchell Billings 1 2-3 4, Kenneth Lenoir 3 (3 pt) 0-0 7. Total 17 4-5 47.

Colfax 72-Upper Columbia 39: 13/15 25/1 22/12 12/11: Holman 2 1-2 5, Claassen 4 (3 pt) 0-0 9, Baerlocher 1 0-0 2, Lustig 15 (9 3 pt) 2-4 41, Hammer 3 (all 3 pt) 0-0 9, Gunnar Aune 2 0-0 4, 28 3-6 72.

Upper Columbia: Jonathan Coleman 1 1-1 3, J. Van Doozer 1 0-0- 2, Zane Madden 1 0-0 3, Evan Pierce 8 (2-3pt) 7-7 23, Ayden Lee 4 0-1 8. Total: 15 6-11 39.