Colfax, Brewster wear targets
The favorites are pretty clear cut, it would seem, for the State 1A tournament that kicks off Wednesday at Yakima’s SunDome.
For the girls, two-time defending champion Colfax is an obvious choice. The Bulldogs (20-4) have been to state nine straight years and have won state three of the past four years. They repeated last year with a young, inexperienced team.
Now the quest for a threepeat sees them a year older and far more experienced, especially in terms of playing with a bull’s eye on their back.
Which isn’t to say Bulldogs head coach Corey Baerlocher believes his team is the odds-on choice to win it all.
“I never considered us the favorite,” the Bulldogs’ fourth-year coach said. “Last year we were young, and nobody had a lot of experience. … Everyone last year said ‘you’re the defending champs,’ but only three players had been role players or seen significant minutes. This year we’re defending (again), but we’re just going to go back over and see what happens.”
This season, Colfax has lost to a 1A Washington team just once – 55-44 to Freeman Feb. 18 in the Northeast District’s first-place game.
The Scotties, led by Northeast A scoring leader Jessie DePell, lost to Colfax in the state championship game last season and are one of a handful of other teams that could make a serious run at a state title.
The only losses for Freeman (19-3) are to 2A Pullman and twice to Colfax, and, after the Scotties handled the Bulldogs in district, Baerlocher expects them to be among the title contenders.
“They came in (and) it was business,” Baerlocher said. “They came in with one thing in mind and they took care of us. … Freeman and White Pass are two teams I would look at. White Swan is 23-0; they’re looking to be contenders, too.”
White Pass (22-1) took fourth last year in state and is led by point guard Kendra Redmon’s 16 points per game. White Swan, which took fifth last year and returns senior point guard Andrea Blodgett’s 14.7 points per game.
On the boys’ side, it looks to be Brewster’s tournament to lose.
The Bears – led by Eastern Washington-bound Mike Taylor, who averages 25.9 ppg – have played in the state title game the past three years and are 21-1 on the season. Their only loss 62-58 in the season opener to Bellvue Christian – the same team that beat them in the state title game last season.
They average 79.3 points per game and won their district championship by 70 points over Lake Roosevelt.
But Colfax head coach Phil Hergert believes his Bulldogs (19-4) can turn last year’s state experience – they lost both games they played but return eight seniors and a junior – into a strong showing this time around.
“I think (the experience) is huge, breaking the ice, getting used to surroundings and so on,” Hergert said. ” Last year we were probably content to be there, this year we think we can really compete.”