Colfax stakes claim to 10th volleyball title

In winning their fifth consecutive state volleyball championship – the first four in Class 1A, the fifth coming in Friday night’s 1B final – the Colfax Bulldogs made coach Sue Doering one short of a perfect 10.

The title was Colfax’s 10th, nine of which have come during Doering’s tenure. Her teams have won when taller than their foes and when shorter, when superbly athletic and when simply irrepressible. They have won, basically, because her teams are invariably at their best at the critical moments. Whenever somebody is turning into deer in the headlights, bank on it: The Bulldogs are the ones behind the wheel.

The ones in the headlights were the La Conner Braves, and the bright lights turned on after they led 24-20 in an opening game they had dominated. A Colfax timeout, with some choice Doering words … a 7-1 Bulldog closing rush … and a 27-25, 25-12, 25-12 rout was on its way.

“One of the things I said (during the first-game timeout) is, if you want to be (No.) 2, you’re playing like 2,” Doering said, adding that she also told her two best offensive players, junior outside Kayla Johnson and senior middle Erin Scholz, “You have to step up. You have to be the ones.”

A late-game blitz by Johnson, who accounted for 10 Colfax points in the game, changed the entire match. She had four kills in that 7-1 run, and La Conner never recovered. The Braves failed seven times in the second game to get a Colfax serve back across the net, and their own serving lost effectiveness. Scholz had several sizzling kills in the second and third games and senior Samantha Sevedge closed out the championship with the final winner.

“Erin carried us in here,” Doering said, referring to Scholz’s sustained excellence over the first three rounds. “And Kayla carried us out.”

Colfax reached the title game by sweeping Toutle Lake in the first round, then knocking off Whitman County rival Tekoa-Oakesdale 25-20, 23-25, 25-10, 25-19 in the semifinals.

Tekoa-Oakesdale claimed third place with a 25-20, 25-21, 25-17 sweep of Davenport, which took sixth. The Gorillas, after a first-round win over South Bend, fell to La Conner 25-20, 25-13, 25-22 in the semis.

The other area entry, Northwest Christian, finished the tournament 1-2, beating Wahkiakum 25-13, 20-25, 25-17, 25-22 in between losses to Darrington and Shoreline Christian.

Yakima Herald-Republic

•At the State 1B in Yakima, LaCrosse-Washtucna, Wilbur-Creston and Almira/Coulee-Hartline all won first-round games to advance to today’s quarterfinals. The L-W Tigercats beat Cusick 25-18, 20-25, 25-15, 25-21, while Wilbur-Creston topped St. John-Endicott 25-22, 25-21, 25-20 and ACH dumped Lummi 25-7, 25-16, 25-7. All the winners play at 10:30 this morning – LaCrosse-Washtucna against Wilson Creek, ACH against Klickitat and Wilbur-Creston against Neah Bay.

St. John-Endicott and Cusick both stayed alive in the consolation bracket, the Eagles beating Three Rivers Christian 25-17, 25-17, 25-19 and Cusick eliminating Crescent 21-25, 26-24, 25-12, 25-16. The Eagles and Panthers have loser-out games today at noon.

•At the State 1A in Yakima, Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) dropped an opening-round game to Cascade Christian 25-22, 16-25, 25-18, 25-12 to fall into a loser-out game today at 9 a.m. against Connell.

•Lewis and Clark opened with a victory in the 4A regional tournament in Richland, knocking off Pasco 25-12, 25-23, 25-17 behind 13 kills from Oceana Bush and 12 from Chloe Rowand. Hilary Koenigs had 39 assists for the Tigers, who play Eisenhower at 11:30 a.m. today. … Mead dropped the first two games of its match to Walla Walla by identical 25-22 counts before storming back to win the final three 25-18, 25-17, 15-12. The Panthers meet Kamiakin at 11:30.

Girls soccer

Kayle Gonzales scored in the 77th minute and East Valley (Yakima) eliminated Pullman from the State playoffs with a 2-1 victory in Yakima.

Adrianna Jones had given the hosts a 1-0 lead in the first half, but Pullman’s Kendra Heim answered with a goal 13 minutes into the second half. The winner was set up by a poor clear out of the box by Pullman, which finished the season 16-4.

Girls basketball

Jordan Schoening had 22 points and Katelynn Loper 20 as Post Falls opened the season with a 66-32 rout of visiting Moscow in an Inland Empire League contest. The Trojans broke open a three-point game by outscoring the Bears 19-7 in the second quarter and followed it with a 21-point third period. … Also in the IEL, Sydney Butler scored 21 points and Katie Baker 20 to pace visiting Lake City to a 100-23 crushing of Sandpoint, in which the Timberwolves had 32 of their 43 field goals assisted.

•In non-league action at the Silver Valley Tournament in Kellogg, Mikki Erickson had 16 points and Erin Hiatt 13 as Bonners Ferry ripped Mullan 73-6. In the second game, host Kellogg got 14 points from Ryder Ashcraft and 17 rebounds from Chelsea Morgan in a 49-27 win over rival Wallace. Kellogg and Bonners Ferry meet for the title tonight at 7:30, with Mullan and Wallace playing at 6. … In Spirit Lake, Cassie Thompson’s 21 points lifted Timberlake to a 50-28 victory over Clark Fork, which got 10 points from Mandy Martin.