|
This page is part of the
Tourneytown.com archives and is no longer updated. |
| Published March 2, 2004 :: Home |
Attitude Serves Colfax Well Determined Bulldogs could be the one to beat this year
By
SCOTT
SANDSBERRY The Bulldogs have brought home 11 trophies from the Class 1A state tournament, a number exceeded only by Lynden Christian (now in 2A) and matched only by Cle Elum.
So when they lost in the second round of the Northeast League tournament to Lind-Ritzville -- which won the Class B title last year before being bumped up to 1A -- the Bulldogs didn't take it lightly. "That did not sit well with my kids," says Colfax coach Corey Baerlocher. Three days later, after the team beat Kettle Falls in a loser-out game, senior guard Jenna Vuletich addressed her teammates in the locker room. "You know what? We've lost four games this year. We're done losing," she told them. "We lost four last year, and we've lost four this year. That's enough." Vuletich's words were well-heeded. "When she said that," Baerlocher says, "I think everybody kind of sat up and took notice." And went right back to winning. Three of their four victories since Vuletich's proclamation have been against Lind-Ritzville -- 46-31 and 46-32 for the league title (since L-R was unbeaten in the tourney, Colfax had to beat the Broncos twice) and 47-38 in the bi-district championship game. And that final game, based on what had happened the night before, stamped Colfax as the favorite of the 16-team field at the SunDome this week. In the bi-district semifinals, Lind-Ritzville had roasted No. 1-ranked Tonasket 72-32, a trouncing so one-sided that Tonasket coach Gary Smith had to be wondering if his team had been playing a college team instead of the reigning Class B champions. "I think our bus went to a different gym," Smith says with a chuckle. What happened? Lind-Ritzville shot about 75 percent from the field against one of the best defensive teams in the state, with Jessica Heidenreich and Liz Biermann lighting up the Tigers from long range. "We used about every defense we had. None of them had any effect that I saw," Smith says. "I can only recall them missing three shots. The point guard (Heidenreich), she was something like 6-for-6 coming off a screen at the high post. We had bodies on her and hands in her face, and she still hit it." That lost cost Tonasket (21-3), which going into the bi-district tournament had to rank as one of the tournament favorites. Now the Tigers must open with King's (20-4), with the winner to face the winner of another big-gun showdown between Lind-Ritzville (23-5) and Onalaska (20-4). "It's crazy," Smith says. "I can't believe what they (the WIAA bracketeers) did to us, where we are. We're going up against, in my opinion, the best team over there (on the west side of the state), and if we win, our reward is to play Lind-Ritzville, which is probably the best team over here. We're not in a good bracket. "Colfax has to be happy. Colfax has a straight shot to the championship game, and there's nothing to stop them from getting there." That comes as news to Colfax's Baerlocher, since his 23-4 Bulldogs open against the team with the shiniest record in the tournament -- Zillah at 21-2 -- and a possible second-round matchup against very tough Burbank. "I've seen game tape on them and they're big inside," Baerlocher says of the Leopards. "It'll be an interesting matchup for us, because we've got some size inside as well." Baerlocher says he initially reacted to the draw with an oh-no-not-again grimace, but that that went away as he considered the quarter-bracket including Lind-Ritzville, Tonasket, Onalaska and King's. "I'm not going to complain one bit," he said. "That is a tough, tough quarter right there. Then I look up at the top of our bracket (a quarter-bracket in which the best team may be an injury-hampered Napavine) and the bottom of theirs (four teams with 27 losses between them) and I'm thinking holy cow." The bottom quarter-bracket, though, includes a very interesting first-round matchup between two of the tournament's best post players, 6-foot sophomore Lisa Coate of Archbishop Murphy (20-3) and 6-2 senior Summer Sykes of Winlock (16-7). They're two of the leading scorers in the tournament (Sykes at 21.7, Coates at 18.2). "We've got a tough opponent, but they're all good at this point," Archbishop Murphy coach Bill Kelley says. "I know Winlock is huge, but we've done well against tall teams this year, so we're optimistic." As to who should be considered the favorite, Kelley says it isn't as simple as that. "A lot of it is matchups," he says. "I think Colfax has the better road to the finals (of the various contenders), but there are always upsets. It's just impossible to say.
"There are several teams that could win this thing. It's kind of a
crapshoot."
ADVERTISEMENT
Copyright 2002-2012 All photos, content and design |
Boys Tourney |
