‘Who she is’: Allie Jenkin scores 41 points to lead Colfax girls on day of father’s death | State basketball

The pep band played as the players took their normal warmups and parents and fans filtered into the gym. The referees met with captains at midcourt to go over pregame instructions.

The Colfax girls and boys basketball teams both played State 2B regional round games Friday at West Valley High School. And both did with heavy hearts.

Colfax boys basketball coach Reece Jenkin died Friday morning after a battle with pancreatic cancer. It would have been hard enough for the school to compete the same day, but Jenkin’s 15-year-old daughter Allie is the starting point guard on the girls team; his 18-year-old son Adrik stars for the boys team.

School administrators requested that it should be “business as usual” for the games. Just a pair of high school state basketball tournament games as scheduled.

The only reason anyone would suspect anything was out of the ordinary was the number of people wearing purple – symbolizing awareness, dignity, hope and perseverance against the aggressive disease – for two teams that don’t use that color in their uniforms.

What happened on the floor was almost too inspiring and remarkable to believe.

Allie Jenkin scored a career-high 41 points – including every point for her team in the first half – to lead the 10th-seeded Bulldogs past 15th-seeded Okanogan 61-48 in a State 2B regional game.

“That’s just who Allie is,” Colfax girls coach Jordan Holmes said. “She’s just going to show up. I asked her on Wednesday, ‘What do you need?’ Because we knew the time was coming. I said, ‘If you need to miss a game, Allie, it’s OK. We got as far as we got with you, and that’s good enough for us, if that’s what you need.’ And she said, ‘I’m not missing a game. My dad doesn’t want me missing a game.’ ”

Colfax (13-8) eliminated Okanogan (11-12) and advanced to a state Round-of-12 loser-out game at the Arena on Wednesday.

“Your heart breaks for the whole family,” Holmes said. “And the kids, they’re in a tough spot. Nobody expects them to show up and play. And yet, that’s exactly what they know their dad wants them to do. For them to show up tonight and for Allie to do what she did – it’s incredible.”

Holmes said it should have come as no surprise that the Bulldogs – and the Jenkin siblings – took the floor tonight.

“What would Reece do? Reece would play basketball. And he would coach his butt off,” Holmes said. “And he would teach his kids to fight like hell.”

Allie Jenkin was in the starting lineup, as she has been all season. She scored the game’s first basket, a driving layup through traffic. Moments later, she hit a long 3-pointer from the top of the key.

“It’s a testament to our team to allow Allie to do what she does and do it well,” Holmes said. “Everybody else takes whatever role is left. They love her enough to let her have every second of the game with the ball in her hands. And they’re OK with finding a way to help the team win. … It was hard on all of them today to know that their friend was struggling the way she was struggling.”

Jenkin came out briefly but returned to hit a pair of free throws and Colfax trailed 12-7 after one. But Jenkin found another level in the second, hitting two more threes along with four more makes and sinking four consecutive free throws.

Jenkin scored all of her team’s points in the first half and the Bulldogs led 29-26.

“I actually did not know that she had all of our points – the first half was all her,” Holmes said. “I was still griping about defense and rebounds. You’re watching her and all of the sudden you remember you’re just coaching. The game keeps moving. You’re like, ‘We’ve got to get to the Arena. We’ve got to find a way to win.’ ”

Colfax started the third quarter with a 10-2 run as freshman Brooke Vanderbark hit a pair of 3s. Jenkin had five in the period and the Bulldogs led 45-39 entering the fourth. A 6-2 spurt at the start of the fourth bumped Colfax’s lead to 10.

Jenkin subbed out with the rest of the starters with 30.7 seconds left in the game, the Bulldogs up by 13.

“I know that her dad is always going to be proud of her, whether she plays good or bad,” Holmes said. “But a really special night for her to be loved and seen and supported the way everyone has supported her. As a coach I couldn’t be more proud and grateful that I get to be around her and get to be a small part of her story.”