Big third quarter propels Colfax to title game - NBC Right Now/KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA |

It appears Colfax is developing a habit, and not a great one.

That being said, head coach Reece Jenkin will take these slow starts if his Bulldogs continue to produce in the second half like they've been doing thus far at the State B Tournament.

An utterly dominant third quarter propelled Colfax to a 53-37 victory over Wahkiakum and gave them a berth in the boys 2B state finals on Saturday.

"Give [Wahkiakum] a little bit of credit, they did a great job of shooting the basketball in the first half," Jenkin said. "I think we panicked a little bit there and try to get it all back in one or two possessions. Finally, in the second half, we kind of slowed down offensively, we started to do a better job of executing our stuff."

Colfax made its move in the third quarter, roaring out of the locker room with a 10-0 run. A Brady Ellis 3-ball from the right corner punctuated the run and gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game, 28-26.

Wahkiakum was able to tie the game moments later, but that would be their only field goal in what would prove to be a fateful third quarter. The Mules were able to keep Colfax within striking distance as the game progressed to the later stages, but ran out of steam down the stretch.

Colfax was buried early in the game by a flurry of 3-pointers from the Mules, who hit 7-of-16 from beyond the arc before intermission.

"They did a great job in the first half of being able to bang some shots down, but I thought the likelihood of them shooting 50 percent from the 3-point line against contested shots probably wasn't really high," Jenkin said. "We did a good job of just staying in front, pressuring their guards, keeping a hand up and did a little bit better job in the second of getting defensive rebounds and not letting them get second-chance opportunities."

Colfax will play either Lind-Ritzville-Sprague or St. George's in the championship game on Saturday.