State 1B girls: ACH stuns Colton in semifinal, ending championship run at 8

Here’s a stunning statistic you’d never speak in same breath when discussing the team that is the gold standard of small school girls basketball.

“They only scored two points in an entire quarter.”

But that was the case when Colton’s run of State 1B championships ended at eight straight during a 50-46 loss Friday night at the Arena in a Girls 1B semifinal against Almira/Coulee-Hartline which built a 38-28 lead during the Wildcats drought and held on for the victory.

“Two points in period for Colton?” said coach Mike Correia wondered. “I would like to think we had something to do with that.”

Berlyn Hunt, the lone senior on Almira/Coulee-Hartline’s roster, carried the youngsters to the stunning upset. She ran the point at times and scored 24 points, 15 of those from beyond the 3-point arc.

It was a turnaround from the night before, said Correia. “Berlyn must have missed 10 3-pointers last night.”

Hunt had a good explanation. “I went to the chiropractor this morning and got a good adjustment,” she said while icing an ankle. “I try to hit shots in the flow of the offense and take what the team gives me,” she said.

The teams slugged it out with the Wildcats jumping on top early 10-2 on three-point shooting by Megan Devorak. The Warriors roared back outscoring their foe 12-3 to take the lead.

All told Hunt scored nine points and junior point guard Tiffany Boutain, who had missed half of the season after having surgery to insert two rods in her back due to scoliosis, added five.

But Colton rallied and led 26-22 at intermission.

Then came the quarter from Hell.

No matter what Colton did, nothing would fall. There were air balls from the wing, basketballs bounding off the rims on inside shots, but no net. ACH capitalized, outscoring the Wildcats 16-2.

Devorak and Dakota Patchin rallied Colton, scoring 13 of their combined 24 game points in the final frenzy that cut the deficit to three points with about a half minute to play. Time ran out on the comeback. ACH had gotten over the hump against its nemesis.

Correia said it probably wasn’t a great time to tell coach Clark Vining how awesome his streak has been.

“I’m sure he doesn’t want to hear it tonight. We’ve coached against him a long time and it seems like every time we get to state, whether regionals or here, everything’s gone to him,” Correia said.

This time, after the shocker, it’s Almira/Coulee-Hartline that soldiers on.