Colfax boys drop games to Eau Claire Regis and Durand
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By Marlys Krueger
Sports Corespondent
It was a rough week for the Colfax boys in basketball action after they traveled to Eau Claire to face the Regis Ramblers January 23. Regis had a huge first half and the Vikings couldn’t recover as they fell 59-50 to the Eau Claire team. Things didn’t get any easier two days later when the Vikings went on the road again, this time to Durand to take on the Dunn-St. Croix Conference leaders, and they lost 55-45.
Colfax hosted Boyceville Tuesday evening and plays in Spring Valley this Friday.
Regis
The Ramblers were coming off a pretty big win over Chippewa Falls McDonell, a team that blasted the Vikings earlier in the season. They started off hot, connecting on a trio of triples in the first five minutes to help put them up 14-6. Elijah Entzminger hit a pair of buckets and Aiden Fischer added one for the Colfax points. Post player Eli Ralph, not known for his three-point shooting, drained one from the top of the key but a Regis string of 10 points put the Vikings in an early hole, down 26-9.
Fischer broke the streak with a put back and Mason Yarrington canned a triple but Regis answered with two more long balls to pull ahead 34-14 with a couple of minutes left in the half. Entzminger scored on a bomb from the outside, Ralph added a free throw and Blake Johnson hit a jumper from the top of the key but the Vikings were down 36-20 at the intermission. All told, Regis hit seven triples in the first half, three by their leading scorer Blake Risler.
Johnson opened the second half with a long deuce and Entzminger drilled a triple but the Vikings had four possessions that didn’t produce any points. Meanwhile, Regis decided to start pounding the paint and began scoring from the inside, pulling ahead 42-25. Entzminger knocked down a jumper and Yarrington drilled another trey to get the Vikings closer, down 42-30.
Regis scored on a fast break but Fischer and Entzminger drained back-to-back shots from long range and with around 10:00 left in the game, the Vikings were behind just 44-36.
A Rambler player and Entzminger traded a pair of free tosses, but a bucket and another triple by Regis upped their advantage to 51-38. Johnson drained another long ball and Ralph scored in the paint to get Colfax back to within eight points again. And yet again, a Regis triple added to their score and the Vikings misfired on a few more shots. Colfax committed their seventh team foul with 3:16 to go and the Ramblers were content to run the clock and spend time at the charity stripe.
Fischer dropped in two jumpers and Entzminger ended the Viking scoring with a three ball from the corner.
Oddly enough, both teams finished with nine triples each, but the seven in the first half by the Ramblers were much more timely. Entzminger led the Vikings with 20 points with help from three shots from behind the arc. Fischer finished with 11 points while Johnson added seven and Ralph and Yarrington both had six. Colfax made 3-of-4 free throws. Risler and Owen Weisenberger carried the load for Regis with 20 points apiece with Risler draining four treys. Regis was 8-for-13 from the charity stripe.
Durand
The Panthers were all alone at the top of the conference at 7-0 when the game started while the Vikings were in the middle of the pack at 3-4.
Entzminger started the game with a jumper and Fischer swiped the ball and scored on a layup for a 4-0 lead. The Panthers used a nine-point run to pull ahead before Entzminger stopped the bleeding with another shot in the paint then added a pair of three point shots to knot things up at 12-12.
Entzminger knocked down a couple of free tosses, Fischer drained a triple from the corner and another Entzminger deuce for a 19-14 lead. After a Panther trey, Entzminger scored again in the lane and Fischer followed with two more buckets and two free tosses for a 27-21 Viking advantage. They were off the mark on several shots again however, while Durand went on another streak with nine points for a 30 -27 lead at the intermission.
After a Fischer free toss, Orion Nichols became the first Viking besides Entzminger or Fischer to score and a few seconds later, Ralph added a bucket for a 32-32 tie. They fell behind 37-32 before Fischer scored on a put back and after another Entzminger bucket, the Vikings were down just 37-36. Johnson kept them within a point with a shot under the hoop but a timely Panther triple put them up 42-38.
The deficit went to 48-39 before the Vikings made a final surge. Entzminger and Fischer scored on driving layups, with Fischer adding a little spin move on his shot, and the game was still in reach with them down 48-43. With around three minutes left, the Panthers drilled another triple and the Vikings committed their seventh team foul. Durand netted five free throws while the Vikings connected on one more deuce by Entzminger.
“We lost a tough home game,” Colfax coach Mark Noll said. “We were ahead almost the whole first half. We had a lot of three-point attempts bounce off the basket that looked like they were going in. The final score doesn’t show how close the game really was and how hard we played against a really good team,” he added.
Entzminger and Fischer combined for 39 of the Vikings 45 points with Entzminger scoring 22 and Fischer 17. The Vikings canned three triples and were 6-for-8 at the foul line. Durand connected for four shots behind the arc and were 9-12 at the free throw line.