Colfax Could Miss Districts This Year
The word from Colfax is that the boys basketball team is in danger of missing a district tournament for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Colfax coaching legend Bob Bafus can’t verify that figure, but he does know the Bulldogs have made every district tournament since he arrived for the 1968-69 season.
This was supposed to be another fine year for Colfax, with David Stoner, Levi Berquist and Nate Hansen returning from last year’s Northeast A League title team.
After last Saturday’s games, however, Colfax is 2-9 and trails Newport and Lakeside by four games (with five games to go) for the sixth and final seed to district.
“We kind of feel like we’ve been ‘snakebit,”’ Bafus said. “We have a lead in games, and things just don’t materialize.”
Although Colfax has lost six league games by double figures, the Bulldogs have come within three points of Newport, five points of second-place Freeman and six points of first-place Riverside.
“I don’t feel there’s a club we can’t beat,” Bafus said. “I can’t put my finger on it, but we have a great attitude.”
Bafus, 59, with previous stints at Vashon and now-defunct Laughbon, ranks second among Washington basketball coaches in all-time victories. Bafus, in his 31st year, is 586-219 (.728). Ed Pepple of Mercer Island/Fife/Mark Morris won 636 games in 34 years.
“Six hundred is a real milestone, but I didn’t look for that heading into the season,” Bafus said. “I just wanted the kids to have a good season to look back on.”
Around the Panorama
The Wellpinit girls (7-8) have four eighth-graders and four freshmen on their basketball roster.
The Northwest Christian girls have forfeited a Dec. 17 win over Republic for using an ineligible player.
Tanna Skidmore of the Columbia girls has scored 20 or more points in nine consecutive league games.
Wellpinit’s leading boys scorer, Les Ford, is expected back this weekend after suffering a punctured lung in an automobile accident two weeks ago. Ford has missed five league games. Ford’s brother, Norm, injured in the same accident, is likely out for the season.
Piling up points
Through mid-January, junior Ryan Hansen of Cascade (Leavenworth) was leading Class A scorers with 30.8 points per game. Medical Lake senior Joe Deutsch was tied for fifth at 21.6 ppg. His classmate, Randy Moffatt, was also in the top 10, as was Chewelah junior Jeremy Landram.
Last chance
The Wapato boys are fighting for the lead in the Class A Yakima Valley West Division. Wapato, which has never advanced to state, jumps to Class AA next year.