Bulldog squads earn a split on road

CLARKSTON — The Colfax girls basketball team notched a 72-45 nonleague win Thursday against host Clarkston in a doubleheader.

“This was awesome to see,” Colfax girls coach Jordan Holmes said. “I’m proud of my kids for how much they stepped up tonight.”

In the nightcap, the Clarkston boys downed Colfax 65-59.

“There were some highs and lows,” Clarkston coach Justin Jones said. “We’re still learning how to manage games. We have to learn how to extend our leads.”

Here are some takeaways:

A fourth-quarter rally

The Bulldog boys struggled to score as they entered the fourth quarter down by 10. But freshman Adrik Jenkin would go on to have the best run of his young career.

Jenkin hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to pull Colfax within 48-41.

His biggest score came with 2:31 left in regulation as the Bulldogs (2-1) trimmed their deficit to 53-50.

Jenkin finished with 12 fourth-quarter points and tied for team-high with Seth Lustig with 17.

“He’s learning on the fly a bit,” Colfax coach Reece Jenkin said. “We still have some learning to do but he made some big shots tonight.”

Xavier Santana said uh-uh

Unfortunately for Colfax, anything that Jenkin could do, junior guard Xavier Santana could do better for Clarkston (3-0).

After each Jenkin 3, Santana seemingly had response on the other end.

After Jenkin put Colfax within three, Santana couldn’t inbound the ball for the second time in the game, giving the Bulldogs a chance to tie it.

However, Colfax failed to score on the possession, and it gave Santana a chance to redeem himself.

He did exactly that.

Santana drilled a 3 from deep at the top of the key to extend Clarkston’s lead 56-50 with 1:41 left.

He played like a man possessed, scoring the Bantams’ final nine points to finish with a game-high 33 points.

“(Santana) is special offensively,” Jones said. “He does such a good job of making shots when they matter.”

An exciting eight minutes

The first quarter of the girls game had all the makings of an instant classic that included nine lead changes.

No team had more than a four-point edge. By the end of the quarter, Colfax was up 21-20. The Bantams (2-1) never could get closer.

“I think it helped that we’ve played more games than them,” Holmes said. “We had more wind in the tank and that matters.”

Just too many weapons

Holmes called her team’s performance ‘the best of the year.’

The Bulldogs (4-0) once again were highlighted by sophomore post Brynn McGaughy, who had a game-high 34 points and 13 rebounds.

“She just loves basketball,” Holmes said. “She also loves spreading the love to her teammates, and that really shined through tonight.”

Jaisha Gibb added 16 and Hailey Demler 13 for the Bulldogs, who were an efficient 28-of-54 (51.8%) from the field.

On the defensive end, the Bulldogs were able to use a combination of their speed and press defense to hold Clarkston a woeful 16-for-58 (27.6%) from the field.

“Clarkston is a really good team and I was worried how we were going to handle them coming in,” Holmes said. “I’m proud of my kids for playing together and stepping up and playing hard.”

BOYS

COLFAX (2-1)

Carson Gray 5 0-0 14, JD Peterson 1 0-0 3, Seth Lustig 5 7-10 17, Mason Gilchrist 3 0-1 6, J.P Wigen 1 0-0 2, Adrik Jenkin 6 0-0 17. Totals 21 7-11 59.

CLARKSTON (3-0)

Xavier Santana 11 5-5 33, Mason Brown 2 0-0 5, Xander Van Tine 4 0-0 9, Dominic Paulucci 0 0-0 0, Carter Steinwand 3 1-1 8, Dustin Beck 0 0-1 0, Josh Hoffman 5 0-0 10. Totals 25 6-7 65.

Colfax 5 12 16 26—59

Clarkston 9 19 15 22—65

3-point goals — Jenkin 5, Gray 4, Peterson, Santana 6, Brown, Van Tine, Steinwand.

GIRLS

COLFAX (4-0)

Jaisha Gibb 6 0-0 16, Paige Claassen 0 0-0 0, Brenna Gilchrist 1 0-1 2, Hailey Demler 4 4-6 13, Lauryn York 1 0-3 2, Ava Swan 1 0-0 2, Brynn McGaughy 14 5-5 34, Harper Booth 1 0-0 3, Destiny Nelson 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 9-15 72.

CLARKSTON (2-1)

Kendall Wallace 4 2-2 13, Taryn Demers 0 0-0 0, Sophie Henderson 0 0-0 0, Eloise Teasley 2 0-0 6, Ella Leavitt 1 0-0 2, Alahondra Perez 4 1-2 12, Smara Powaukee 2 0-0 6, Joey Miller 2 0-0 4, Lexi Villavicencio 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 3-4 45.

Colfax 21 19 13 19—72

Clarkston 20 9 5 11—45

3-point goals— Gibb 4, Demler, McGaughy, Booth, Wallace 3, Perez 3, Powaukee 2, Teasley 2.

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.