Girls 1B: Colton hits 15 3-pointers to storm into semifinals
The Colton Wildcats saw their eight-year run of state championships end last year in the semifinals against the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors. Provided a rematch this season, the Wildcats made sure last year was an outlier.
And they did so with authority.
Colton tied its record for 3-pointers in a state tournament game with 15 and used tight interior defense to smother ACH 81-34. The Wildcats move on to tonight’s semifinals to face Sunnyside Christian.
Colton coach Clark Vining admitted to feeling a little more emotion heading into the game given the opponent and what happened last year.
“I’m not going to lie and say we didn’t think about it,” Vining said. “We’ve been thinking about it for a year now. It was definitely motivation throughout the summer and in practices this season.”
Colton looked like a team ready to play for a state title again.
The Wildcats had three players in double figures. Dakota Patchen led the way with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting. She made six 3-pointers as well.
Emily Schultheis had 15 points and Josie Schultheis had 10. Jordyn Moehrle grabbed nine rebounds, seven on the defensive end.
Colton’s 3-point excellence is what drives the team. All players on the court – from the point guards to the bigs—are expected to shoot 3-pointers. Six players connected from beyond the arc.
“We did a really good job of moving the basketball and sharing the ball tonight,” Vining said. “They were trying to take away our inside stuff early in the game and we hit a couple 3s from outside from our 4 and 5 guys. That’s kind of the way we play. If you’re open, you’re going to let it fly.”
Colton’s offense helped them runaway from the Warriors, but its defense played a big role as well. The Warriors like to dish the ball inside and get points from beneath the basket.
Colton’s defense made that difficult, and that was the plan.
“They like to get the ball to (Gabi) Isaak inside and (Caitlin) O’Neil as well,” Vining said. “They’re tough to defend and they’ll post anybody up. I thought our team defense was pretty solid tonight.”
The Wildcats shot 53 percent from the field and 43 percent from the 3-point line. Colton held ACH to 27 percent from the field. Colton also forced 21 ACH turnovers.
Colton started its runaway by ending the first quarter on an 11-0 run. Fifteen of Colton’s 19 points in the second quarter came on 3-pointers.
The top-ranked Wildcats used runs of 10-0 to end the first half, 9-0 in the third quarter and 9-0 again in the fourth quarter to leave no doubt as to which team is the one to beat in the girls 1B bracket.