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Mar. 8—SPOKANE — "Go be great for me."
Moments after dropping 33 points in the state championship game to cap an undefeated season, Colfax senior Adrik Jenkin broke away from the celebration to grab a framed photo of his father and coach, Reece Jenkin, before embracing his mother, Breanne Jenkin, and sister, Allie.
Eight days after losing Reece Jenkin to pancreatic cancer, Adrik Jenkin raised his father's photo into the air, having just done something that would surely have made him proud.
With a 69-56 victory over the ninth-seeded Adna Pirates in the Washington Class 2B boys basketball final Saturday at Spokane Arena, Reece Jenkin's Colfax Bulldogs were state champions.
"As soon as my dad got the super devastating news, he was telling me and my sister, 'Go be great for me,'" Adrik Jenkin said. "And so that's exactly what we did for him today."
'The best basketball player on the court'
From the moment he stepped onto the court to each of his nine superhuman 3-pointers — the first one giving top-seeded Colfax (27-0) an early 3-0 lead — to his excellent defensive stops and leaps of joy following the final buzzer, Adrik Jenkin was unstoppable.
Colfax acting head coach Ben Aune, Reece Jenkin's friend and longtime assistant coach, had no doubt in his mind that Adrik was "going to go out and be the best basketball player on the basketball court."
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"I knew that kid was going to do that for his dad," Aune said. "That's how I felt Reese today was him going through Adrik."
Adrik Jenkin dished out four assists and made 12-of-27 shots from the floor, including 9-for-19 from beyond the arc, en route to his 33-point, 12-rebound double-double.
Basketball excellence runs in the family. On the day their father died, freshman Allie Jenkin posted a career-high 41 points, including each of the Bulldogs' first 29, to extend the Colfax girls basketball team's season. Later that night, Adrik Jenkin tallied 34 points and surpassed 2,000 career points in the boys' state tournament opener.
Allie Jenkin and her younger brother, seventh-grader Ryker Jenkin, were team managers for the Bulldog boys' state championship run.
Aune said he watched Adrik, a senior, grow from "a curly-haired goofball" in second grade to the "absolutely phenomenal kid" and "stud he is" today.
"First person coming off the floor after we won a state title, Adrik's hugging me, telling me he loves me," Aune said. "He's just a fantastic kid."
A team effort
There may have been no worthier final foe for Colfax than the ninth-seeded Adna Pirates (25-5), whose Cinderella run to the state championship game was carved out thanks to players like Trevin Salme, who dropped 24 points and five assists, and Landen Cline, who accounted for 15 points on Saturday.
The Pirates didn't make it easy for the Bulldogs, jockeying for the lead through the first half before Colfax engineered a 10-2 run to take a 33-26 lead into the break.
However, the Pirates weren't ready to abandon ship.
With three makes, Adna blasted back with an 8-0 second-half-opening run to even the game at 33-33.
Then it was who else but Adrik Jenkin who connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to push Colfax ahead. Adna kept it close for most of the third quarter until the Bulldogs took a big bite.
Senior Dillon Thompson drilled a layup, Ledger Kelly picked off an Adna inbound pass and put it up and in off the glass and Jenkin connected on a 3-pointer after a swift defensive stand to push Colfax's lead to 12 via a 7-0 run in fewer than 20 seconds.
From there, Colfax cruised to the 13-point victory.
The Bulldogs' effort was a reflection of the standard that Reece Jenkin set, said Kelly, a senior who finished with 18 points.
"Everything we do, between our plays and our effort — everything's based off what he taught us," Kelly said. "His legacy is always here and always will be."
Colfax junior Caleb Lustig was sitting on the bench two years ago, the last time his team won it all.
This year, he was on the court for 28 minutes, posting nine points and corralling 11 rebounds en route to being named tournament MVP and breaking the tournament record for total rebounds with 52.
And he started the day feeling sick, said John Lustig, Caleb's brother and a standout player for Lewis-Clark State men's basketball.
"He just rallied. But that's Caleb," Aune said. "I didn't even know Caleb was sick today, because Caleb's not gonna be the type of kid that's gonna ... have a built-in excuse. That's not him. That kid's a freaking dog. He had a fantastic state tournament."
Colfax in their corner
Aune said an unsung aspect of Colfax's success is the parent support. Between the team meals, the demanding practices and the year-round preparation, each Bulldog is surrounded by a spectacular support system.
Few know what it takes to be a Colfax basketball parent more than Michelle Lustig, who has four sons, three of whom played for the Bulldogs.
Her eldest son, John Lustig, is an All-Cascade Conference star for the Lewis-Clark State Warriors; her son Seth Lustig won a state championship with Colfax two years ago and plays for Walla Walla Community College; and her youngest, Caleb, is a two-time state champion.
"I pretty much have to give it to Reese for getting them there," Michelle Lustig said. "Because they helped my boys just learn to love basketball and how to succeed and be good men on the court and off."
John Lustig and his LCSC teammate, Josh Salguero, drove straight from practice in Lewiston to Spokane to support Caleb and Colfax.
Based on the sheer number of purple shirts in the stands, a town of 2,600 had shown up to support their kids.
With purple representing strength and courage in the face of pancreatic cancer, Colfax, its league rivals and schools across the state, including the Bulldogs' state championship opponent, Adna, hosted "Purple-Outs" to rally around Reece, his family and his program after his diagnosis on Dec. 11.
Wearing the clipped net around his neck, Adrik Jenkin greeted and embraced dozens of friends, neighbors, mentors and well-wishers in the Spokane Arena concourse.
Many had the same message for the two-time state champion, who won his first ring in 2024: "Your father would be so proud of you."
Adrik Jenkin said he knows this to be true.
"He would absolutely love it," Adrik Jenkin said. "Going out the way we did, he would be super happy. Seeing his face after our first state championship together was amazing. I couldn't even imagine what it'd be like right now."
ADNA (25-5)
Landen Cline 7 0-3 15, Trent Kephart 0 0-0 0, Kannen Kephart 2 0-0 4, Trevin Salme 8 2-2 24, Lucas Fehrenbach 0 0-0 0, Grayson Humphrey 1 0-0 2, Kaden Richardson 3 0-0 9, James Greenwood 1 0-0 2, Kaden Richardson 3 0-0 9, James Greenwood 1 0-0 2, Talan Guerrero 0 0-0 0, Jackson Knittle 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 2-5 56.
COLFAX (27-0)
Gunner Brown 1 1-1 3, Brayden McNeilly 0 0-0 0, Ledger Kelly 5 7-9 18, Connor McAnally 0 0-0 0, Dane Thompson 0 0-0 0, Ryker Reed 1 0-0 2, Dillon Thompson 2 0-0 4, Adrik Jenkin 12 0-0 33, Dexter McCully 0 0-0 0, Hank Reibold 0 0-0 0, Caleb Lustig 4 1-2 9. Totals 25 9-12 69.
Adna 12 14 17 13—56
Colfax 16 17 22 14—69
3-point goals — Salme 6, Richardson 3, Cline, Jenkin 9, Kelly.
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, [email protected], or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.
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Moments after dropping 33 points in the state championship game to cap an undefeated season, Colfax senior Adrik Jenkin broke away from the celebration to grab a framed photo of his father and coach, Reece Jenkin, before embracing his mother, Breanne Jenkin, and sister, Allie.
Eight days after losing Reece Jenkin to pancreatic cancer, Adrik Jenkin raised his father's photo into the air, having just done something that would surely have made him proud.
With a 69-56 victory over the ninth-seeded Adna Pirates in the Washington Class 2B boys basketball final Saturday at Spokane Arena, Reece Jenkin's Colfax Bulldogs were state champions.
"As soon as my dad got the super devastating news, he was telling me and my sister, 'Go be great for me,'" Adrik Jenkin said. "And so that's exactly what we did for him today."
'The best basketball player on the court'
From the moment he stepped onto the court to each of his nine superhuman 3-pointers — the first one giving top-seeded Colfax (27-0) an early 3-0 lead — to his excellent defensive stops and leaps of joy following the final buzzer, Adrik Jenkin was unstoppable.
Colfax acting head coach Ben Aune, Reece Jenkin's friend and longtime assistant coach, had no doubt in his mind that Adrik was "going to go out and be the best basketball player on the basketball court."
Advertisement
"I knew that kid was going to do that for his dad," Aune said. "That's how I felt Reese today was him going through Adrik."
Adrik Jenkin dished out four assists and made 12-of-27 shots from the floor, including 9-for-19 from beyond the arc, en route to his 33-point, 12-rebound double-double.
Basketball excellence runs in the family. On the day their father died, freshman Allie Jenkin posted a career-high 41 points, including each of the Bulldogs' first 29, to extend the Colfax girls basketball team's season. Later that night, Adrik Jenkin tallied 34 points and surpassed 2,000 career points in the boys' state tournament opener.
Allie Jenkin and her younger brother, seventh-grader Ryker Jenkin, were team managers for the Bulldog boys' state championship run.
Aune said he watched Adrik, a senior, grow from "a curly-haired goofball" in second grade to the "absolutely phenomenal kid" and "stud he is" today.
"First person coming off the floor after we won a state title, Adrik's hugging me, telling me he loves me," Aune said. "He's just a fantastic kid."
A team effort
There may have been no worthier final foe for Colfax than the ninth-seeded Adna Pirates (25-5), whose Cinderella run to the state championship game was carved out thanks to players like Trevin Salme, who dropped 24 points and five assists, and Landen Cline, who accounted for 15 points on Saturday.
The Pirates didn't make it easy for the Bulldogs, jockeying for the lead through the first half before Colfax engineered a 10-2 run to take a 33-26 lead into the break.
However, the Pirates weren't ready to abandon ship.
With three makes, Adna blasted back with an 8-0 second-half-opening run to even the game at 33-33.
Then it was who else but Adrik Jenkin who connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to push Colfax ahead. Adna kept it close for most of the third quarter until the Bulldogs took a big bite.
Senior Dillon Thompson drilled a layup, Ledger Kelly picked off an Adna inbound pass and put it up and in off the glass and Jenkin connected on a 3-pointer after a swift defensive stand to push Colfax's lead to 12 via a 7-0 run in fewer than 20 seconds.
From there, Colfax cruised to the 13-point victory.
The Bulldogs' effort was a reflection of the standard that Reece Jenkin set, said Kelly, a senior who finished with 18 points.
"Everything we do, between our plays and our effort — everything's based off what he taught us," Kelly said. "His legacy is always here and always will be."
Colfax junior Caleb Lustig was sitting on the bench two years ago, the last time his team won it all.
This year, he was on the court for 28 minutes, posting nine points and corralling 11 rebounds en route to being named tournament MVP and breaking the tournament record for total rebounds with 52.
And he started the day feeling sick, said John Lustig, Caleb's brother and a standout player for Lewis-Clark State men's basketball.
"He just rallied. But that's Caleb," Aune said. "I didn't even know Caleb was sick today, because Caleb's not gonna be the type of kid that's gonna ... have a built-in excuse. That's not him. That kid's a freaking dog. He had a fantastic state tournament."
Colfax in their corner
Aune said an unsung aspect of Colfax's success is the parent support. Between the team meals, the demanding practices and the year-round preparation, each Bulldog is surrounded by a spectacular support system.
Few know what it takes to be a Colfax basketball parent more than Michelle Lustig, who has four sons, three of whom played for the Bulldogs.
Her eldest son, John Lustig, is an All-Cascade Conference star for the Lewis-Clark State Warriors; her son Seth Lustig won a state championship with Colfax two years ago and plays for Walla Walla Community College; and her youngest, Caleb, is a two-time state champion.
"I pretty much have to give it to Reese for getting them there," Michelle Lustig said. "Because they helped my boys just learn to love basketball and how to succeed and be good men on the court and off."
John Lustig and his LCSC teammate, Josh Salguero, drove straight from practice in Lewiston to Spokane to support Caleb and Colfax.
Based on the sheer number of purple shirts in the stands, a town of 2,600 had shown up to support their kids.
With purple representing strength and courage in the face of pancreatic cancer, Colfax, its league rivals and schools across the state, including the Bulldogs' state championship opponent, Adna, hosted "Purple-Outs" to rally around Reece, his family and his program after his diagnosis on Dec. 11.
Wearing the clipped net around his neck, Adrik Jenkin greeted and embraced dozens of friends, neighbors, mentors and well-wishers in the Spokane Arena concourse.
Many had the same message for the two-time state champion, who won his first ring in 2024: "Your father would be so proud of you."
Adrik Jenkin said he knows this to be true.
"He would absolutely love it," Adrik Jenkin said. "Going out the way we did, he would be super happy. Seeing his face after our first state championship together was amazing. I couldn't even imagine what it'd be like right now."
ADNA (25-5)
Landen Cline 7 0-3 15, Trent Kephart 0 0-0 0, Kannen Kephart 2 0-0 4, Trevin Salme 8 2-2 24, Lucas Fehrenbach 0 0-0 0, Grayson Humphrey 1 0-0 2, Kaden Richardson 3 0-0 9, James Greenwood 1 0-0 2, Kaden Richardson 3 0-0 9, James Greenwood 1 0-0 2, Talan Guerrero 0 0-0 0, Jackson Knittle 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 2-5 56.
COLFAX (27-0)
Gunner Brown 1 1-1 3, Brayden McNeilly 0 0-0 0, Ledger Kelly 5 7-9 18, Connor McAnally 0 0-0 0, Dane Thompson 0 0-0 0, Ryker Reed 1 0-0 2, Dillon Thompson 2 0-0 4, Adrik Jenkin 12 0-0 33, Dexter McCully 0 0-0 0, Hank Reibold 0 0-0 0, Caleb Lustig 4 1-2 9. Totals 25 9-12 69.
Adna 12 14 17 13—56
Colfax 16 17 22 14—69
3-point goals — Salme 6, Richardson 3, Cline, Jenkin 9, Kelly.
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, [email protected], or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.
Continue reading...
