Pittman’S 19 Leads Colfax

1A girls basketball

Tiffany Pittman came away happy with the win, but personally disappointed after missing all 11 of her shots and scoring just one point Wednesday in Colfax’s opening round in the girls State 1A basketball tournament in the Tacoma Dome.

Pittman’s disappointment turned to jubilation Thursday, when she scored 19 points, leading the Bulldogs to a 58-47 victory over King’s in the quarterfinals.

“I stepped it up and I turned it on. It just went for me tonight,” Pittman said. “We just had so much energy.”

Colfax (20-5) advances to face Chelan (19-6) in the semifinals at 6:30 tonight.

The Bulldogs felt lucky to escape the first round after playing poorly against Raymond. That game bore little resemblance, however, to Colfax’s effort against King’s.

“The girls felt they could play better than they did in the first game,” said Colfax coach David Ebersole.

The Bulldogs proved that by improving their shooting from 25 to 45 percent and turning the ball over eight fewer times.

“We were kind of intimidated,” said Colfax senior Jessica Rohner, who scored 13 points. “It’s a big thing. We got all the big jitters out.”

Colfax jumped out to a 8-0 lead and continued its hot shooting into the second quarter. During a 4-minute span the Bulldogs made 7 of 9 shots. One of those misses Pittman rebounded and put it in to give Colfax a 27-15 lead with 3:48 left in the first half.

The Knights made a 15-2 run late in the third quarter on the strength of a pair of 3-pointers by Ashleigh Teeple. Katie Yakovich, who finished with 12 points, capped the run with a driving shot that tied the score at 37-37 with 1:24 left in the third quarter.

Pittman answered for Colfax with the Bulldogs’ only 3-pointer of the game. Emily Hall followed with a pair of free throws to give the Bulldogs a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“She’s hit big ones for us all year,” Ebersole said of Pittman. “Yesterday was untypical of her.”

King’s suffered a pair of devastating losses less than 2 minutes into the fourth quarter. First Teeple, who scored 11 points, fouled out. Then Pittman charged into Mariko Trias, knocking the Knights’ point guard hard to the floor. Trais banged the back of her head on the court and did not return.

Becky VanTine had her second double-double in two days with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Colfax 58, King’s 47

Colfax 13 16 13 16 - 58

King’s 9 11 17 10 - 47

Colfax - Pittman 19, Hall 8, VanTine 12, Rohner 13, Baldree 4, Mellor 2.

King’s - Blackmer 4, Remington 7, Brediger 3, Teeple 11, Trias 2, Nordtvedt 2, Yakovich 12, Burk 6.