Bulldogs Face ‘Must-Win’ After First-Round Loss

DAYTON - The Dayton girls basketball team faced a strong district seven team Saturday, and while the lady Bulldogs were able to hold some ground, they weren't able to pull ahead, falling 50- 36 to the Colfax Bulldogs.

Both teams opened tak­ing shots at every opportu­nity. But Dayton struggled to hit the net taking 14 attempts and hitting only two for five points.

Colfax took 18 attempts and hit seven, helping their ladies pull ahead of Dayton before ending the first period 18-7.

The score gap didn't slow Dayton down, though. While Colfax cooled off, hitting gradually fewer shots as the game progressed, Dayton stayed consistent, slowing closing in on Col­fax's scoring.

Boosted by free throws, Dayton brought in another seven points. With fewer op­portunities at the free throw line, Colfax hit only 14 points with one free throw point ending the half 33-14, Colfax.

After halftime, Colfax hit the court comfortable with their lead while Dayton was geared up to close the score gap.

Dayton came out in full force, taking only 11 at­tempts at the net but hitting five for ten points, while Colfax was only able to hit three of their 15 attempts.

Both teams ended the period 11 points richer, but Dayton's scoring deficit was still cause for concern as the period ended with a score of 44-25, Colfax.

In the fourth, Dayton came out strong, holding Colfax to only six points and garnering 11 of their own. The score gap closed, and with two minutes left on the clock, it looked like Dayton could come back and give Colfax a run for their money. As the final minutes ticked down, Day­ton couldn't match Colfax's accumulated scoring bank, putting up shots but not hit­ting enough points to close the gap. The game ended with a final score of 50-36, Colfax.

Head coach Clayton Strong said free throws were one of the biggest deterrents for Dayton during the game.

"We probably missed enough (free throws) that we could have won the game with them," Strong said. "Free throw shooting cost us; the (lack of) rebounding early cost us. Other than that I can't really say a lot of bad stuff. We went toe-to-toe with (Colfax)."

Nerves also hampered Dayton's play, Strong said. When the game opened, those nerves allowed Colfax to stride ahead and create a scoring cushion to hold Dayton down.

Strong said he thought his team put out a lot of effort and didn't back down from the notoriously tough team.

Strong also noted that Colfax is a quality program. The team is well coached and fundamentally sound, he said.

"Really I didn't think that game was decided until the final minute and a half," Strong said. "If we had a couple more minutes we probably could have pulled something out."

The team is still two wins away from heading to re­gionals, so Strong said the team will still play hard and stay optimistic.

"We just need to go take care of business," Strong said.

Dayton now enters the playoff losers' bracket. Their next game will be at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18, at Walla Walla Community College.