Colfax falls to Harvard-Westlake in D-II state championship

For the second consecutive season, Colfax High School girls basketball was the lone representative from the Sac-Joaquin Section at the CIF Basketball State Championships. The Lady Falcons were giant slayers on their run back to Golden 1 Center, as the school of just over 660 students moved from Division IV to D-II and took down schools with double their enrollment and made it back to the state title. Colfax entered the state championships with more wins than any boys or girls team with 34, but its quest for a first state championship in 40 years fell one game short with a 60-45 defeat at the hands of No. 4 Harvard-Westlake. Although the Lady Falcons fell just short of the state title, head coach Rexanne Simpton had nothing but praise for her scrappy squad. "I'm kind of lost for words at the moment. I'm super proud of our team. They're a bunch of fighters," Simpton said. "I know the girls really wanted it. They've been here before, most of them, and they thought it was their turn. Sometimes you fall short." Colfax (34-3) had a chip on its shoulder all postseason and knew how it was perceived by its opponents as a small school playing up two divisions. Still, Simpton said that the Lady Falcons exceeded their own expectations and achieved their goals by making it back to Golden 1 Center. "I don't even know if we even thought we'd be here," Simpton said. "We set goals early on in the season and we accomplished our goals. Our last goal that we set was to make a run at NorCals and here we are playing for our second state championship in two years." The Lady Falcons gave the Wolverines (19-18) all they could handle for the majority of the game, as neither side could pull away for the first three quarters. Harvard-Westlake went on a tear in the fourth quarter, outscoring Colfax 18-5 to pull away with the win. Simpton applauded her team for their fight, saying, "Never a lack of effort, that's for sure. They played hard and they play hard for each other." The Wolverines were able to stifle Colfax's offense in the final quarter, holding the Lady Falcons to just 2 of 16 from the field. The Wolverines were efficient offensively on their end, sinking six of their eight field goal attempts and going a perfect 6 for 6 from the free-throw line in the fourth. "In the second half, we got a little cold and missed some easy ones and they hit shots," Simtpon said. "I think that was the difference." The Wolverines were led by a trio of scorers in double figures, including Angelina Habis with 19 points. Deana Thompson added 18 while Valentina Guerrero tallied up 14. Guerrero was effective on the glass as well, reeling in 13 rebounds. Colfax's Juliette James had a strong performance in the post as well, nabbing 11 rebounds and scoring a team-high 18 points. Her junior classmate Kaia Diederichs scored 13, fighting off an ankle injury in the second half to try to will her team to a late comeback. "Nothing's gonna stop her," Simpton said of Diederichs. Colfax graduates just one senior from this year's team in point guard Jade Biittner. Simpton said that Biittner is one of the leaders on this year's team and her presence and impact on the court is far greater than her statline shows every night. "She runs the show. She's a phenomenal defender and she knows the ins and outs of everything that we've prepared," Simpton said of Biittner. "She'll watch film on her own to be even more prepared. She's an athlete and she's a student of the game." "I'm definitely proud of this team and how far we came this year," Biittner said. "Coming off of the loss last year, I think we had four or five of us that came back and we really wanted to get back to this point. There was nothing that was gonna stop us from getting here. Sometimes we have a game and sometimes we don't. Tonight just wasn't our night." Colfax ends its season at 34-3, once again tying its record for most wins in a season in program history and fifth-most in state history. The state championship is Harvard-Westlake's second in program history and first since winning the D-IV state title and finishing the season ranked ninth in the nation in 2010. Simpton said that while the loss may sting, the experience of playing for another state title is important as the Lady Falcons are slated to return a bulk of their talent from this season. "I think experience is so important and I think having four or five girls that have had this much experience is going to help us," Simpton said. "We're going to take this and continue to build and continue to work hard to carry on."