Colfax Bulldog girls to enter playoffs first in districts

COLFAX - The Colfax Bulldogs girls basketball team captured first place in the 2B districts regular season after winning 13 district games in the 2023-24 season.

Last season, the Bulldogs ended their regular season with a 14-0 record on route to a state championship, and undefeated season. The 2023-24 team have lost four games this season, however, only two of those losses were against 2B teams Warden and Mabton.

Heading into district playoffs, the Bulldogs are ranked ninth overall for the 2B classification based off RPI. Warden are sixth, and Mabton are 12th.

The number one RPI ranked team for 2B is Adna, who are 18-1 on the season, and a favorite to compete for the state championship in late February. The only loss for Adna on the season was to Rainier, who are second in 2B.

Colfax played two district games this week to end their regular season. The first game was played against the Liberty (Spangle) Lancers, played on Thursday, Jan. 25, in Colfax.

The Bulldogs would struggle offensively to start the game, trailing 16-9 after eight minutes, but came away with the 61-42 victory.

With their backs against the wall, the Bulldogs held the Lancers to four points in the second quarter, while scoring 15 to take a 24-20 halftime lead.

Brynn McGaughy had 16 points in the first half, and Hailey Demler had eight as McGaughy and Demler combined for all 24 first-half points for Colfax.

During the third quarter, Brenna Gilchrist, Paige Claassen, and Ashley Ring all scored, helping Mcgaughy and Demler as Colfax out-scored Liberty 17-15 in the third.

Liberty would score just seven points in the final quarter as Colfax added 20 points to their total to secure the 19-point victory.

McGaughy finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. She also had four assists and three blocks.

Demler totaled 15 points and eight rebounds with four steals.

Colfax used their victory over the Lancers to fuel their next match against the Asotin Panthers. The game was played on Friday, Jan. 26, in Asotin.

The Bulldogs defense was steadfast, holding the Panthers under nine points in each of the four quarters, the Panthers scored eight in the second for their highest quarter.

With the defensive effort, the Bulldogs could cruise on offense to a 66-20 victory.

McGaughy finished with 16 points and five rebounds in the game.

Demler scored 11 in the game with five rebounds and four assists.

Colfax used 10 players in the game, with all 10 scoring at least one point.

Colfax will now transition into the district playoff tournament, where every game becomes a must-win to advance to the state championship tournament.

The first district match for Colfax will take place Saturday, Feb. 3, with a game in West Valley at the Fieldhouse at 6 p.m. The opponent for Colfax was not made official at the time of press.