Colfax players celebrate their victory over top-ranked Freeman in Saturday night's championship game. The 53-44 victory gave the Bulldogs a repeat title.   SANDY SUMMERS/Yakima Herald-Republic View all photos for this story.

Colfax gets first win in five tries this season
against Freeman, 53-44, in title game

By ROGER UNDERWOOD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

The scene was frantic and festive Saturday night, but one thing had 3 1/2-year-old Cole Baerlocher's attention.

Jordan Harazin, the point guard on the Colfax girls basketball team coached by young Baerlocher's father, Corey, was crying.

"What's the matter?" Cole Baerlocher asked. To which Harazin, who was carrying the state championship trophy, replied, "I'm just really happy. You can cry if you're happy, too."

And the Bulldogs understandably were.

With a roster including five freshmen, including Harazin, and no seniors, they had won Colfax's second consecutive Class 1A title by turning the tables on a Freeman team they had lost to four times previously, beating the Scotties 53-44 in the SunDome.

"What it came down to," said the 5-foot-6 Harazin, "was we were sick and tired of losing to them. And, oh my gosh, we just came out and played our butts off."

Harazin, a first-team all-tournament selection, led all scorers with 16 points, converting 12 of 14 free throws in the fiercely-fought defensive battle.

Another freshman, Megan Teade, added 12 points.

Freeman's Jessie DePell, voted the tournament's Most Valuable Player, scored 15 points to lead the Scotties, who were ranked No. 1 and saw a 21-game winning streak snapped. They finished 23-3. Colfax, at 19-9, had the most losses of any 1A girls champion.

But again, the Bulldogs had no seniors and, accordingly, made no apologies.

"Everybody was saying, 'Congratulations, it'll be a nice experience for your young kids to go (to state),'" Corey Baerlocher said. "And you know what? Who knew?

"We didn't know what to expect all year -- how the team would jell, who could play. And then they come over here and do this. Isn't that crazy?"

Not entirely, perhaps because five of the Bulldogs had only months earlier won a Class 1A state volleyball crown in the very same building.

Others still were in the stands last March watching Colfax beat Lind-Ritzville, 53-39, and were also here in 2002 when the Bulldogs won their first title by beating King's, 42-32.

"We expect this," said Harazin. "That's the way Colfax is."

After a tightly played first half ended in a 21-21 tie, DePell was called for her fourth personal foul and was taken out with 2:10 left in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs in general and Harazin in particular took advantage, hawking loose balls and driving hard to the basket to earn free throws.

In a game which featured 50 fouls and 44 turnovers, that type of aggression was crucial, and Harazin made eight consecutive free throws as Colfax slowly pulled away.

DePell returned with 4:25 left in the game and her team down 38-33. Her two free throws with 3:29 to go brought the Scotties within 41-37, but back-to-back baskets by Lauren Mellor and Angie Dennison made it 45-37 with 1:43 left.