Colfax marches toward perfect season with 62-48 win over Okanogan in semifinal | State 2B boys
In the waning seconds of the first quarter on Friday night at the Arena, Ben Aune had a feeling that the shot Adrik Jenkin was about to launch was going to, somehow, fall through.
Nevermind Jenkin had heaved it up from the far end of the court.
“When he hit it I was laughing,” Aune, the Colfax coach, said. “(I told him) I hope that gets you going.”
It seemed to do the trick.
That buzzer-beating 3 jolted the Colfax Bulldogs out of their early lull, grew into a 23-2 run and spurred Colfax to a 62-48 victory over Okanogan in the State 2B boys basketball semifinals.
They will face No. 9 Adna or No. 4 Reardan in the championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday. Okanogan (21-5) will play the other team at 1 p.m. Saturday for third place.
Jenkin wasn’t as sharp on Friday as he was in a quarterfinal victory over Freeman, but the Colfax senior still finished with a team-high 19 points while making 6 of 21 shots and 2 of 3 free throws.
“They got a lot of tips on Adrik. Those guys are athletic. They’re quick,” Aune said. “They did a great job moving their feet and using their bodies. They made every bucket (we) got today tough. And that’s Okanogan. They’re physical, and they’re athletic.”
After Okanogan took an early lead, Colfax took charge and led 31-16 at half. Toward the end of the third quarter, a basket by Brayden Meyer – one of Okanogan’s nine seniors – cut Colfax’s lead to 41-32.
But with 2.4 seconds left in the quarter, Jenkin hit a corner 3 in front of his own bench, was fouled in the act and then hit the free throw to give Colfax a 13-point lead heading into the final 8 minutes. That lead never fell to single digits again.
The victory gives Colfax (26-0) a chance to win a second championship in three seasons, and to do so again as an undefeated team.
Jenkin, though, is the only starter on this year’s team who also started on that team two years ago. So for players like junior Caleb Lustig (12 points, 24 rebounds on Friday), who watched his older brother Seth make 12 of 12 free-throw attempts in the state championship game, or for senior Dillon Thompson, who didn’t play one minute of that game, either, this is an opportunity to win a title in a different role.
“Two years ago, I was always there in practice, working hard to make my team better,” said Thompson, who had 13 points and 15 rebounds Friday. “I was super happy in that moment to support everyone while we won one two years ago. This year to come out and truly give it all I have to contribute what I can to this team has been super special.”
Adna 63, Reardan 53: The ninth-seeded Pirates advanced to the school’s first boys basketball state championship game with a victory Friday over the sixth-seeded Screaming Eagles.
Junior Trevin Salme scored 23 points and had 11 rebounds for the Pirates (25-4), who have won three games in three days. They led Reardan 35-18 at half and shot 44.2% from the field overall.
Adna junior Grayson Humphrey added 18 points; junior Landen Cline had 11.
Junior Justin Vaughn scored 21 points for Reardan (23-5), which will play for third place at 1 p.m. Saturday against Okanogan. The Screaming Eagles finished third in last year’s 2B State Tournament.