If they didn’t realize by now, the Colfax High Falcons boys basketball team has one big bulls-eye on its back for the remainder of the Pioneer Valley League season.
Maintaining their PVL leadership Tuesday night with a solid 61-46 road win at Whitney, the Falcons (7-1) face another key league test when they travel to Placerville today for a 7:30 p.m. test against El Dorado.
Going into this evening’s action, the Falcons hold a one-game advantage in the PVL race over both Lincoln (5-2) and Placer (5-2). El Dorado at 5-3 is one game further back in the loss column.
In Tuesday’s win at Whitney, the Falcons mustered up a balanced attack on offense as Ryan Salmonson’s 16 points and 10 apiece from Chase Mosier, Justin Witt and Kyle Greer proved too much for the Wildcats to handle.
Colfax led 12-6 after one quarter of play and extended it to 28-17 by halftime. The Wildcats outscored the Falcons in the third stanza and trimmed their lead to 40-33 but Colfax responded with a 21-point fourth quarter to ice the win.
Ben Buell chipped in with six more points for the Falcons while Joey Jergo sank five.
Colfax 58 Bear River 34
In last week’s home tilt against visiting Bear River, the Falcons allowed the visiting Bruins just three second half field goals on their way to registering a defensive-minded 58-34 win.
Salmonson scored a game-high 16 and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line, helping Colfax rebound from its first league loss earlier this week.
The Bruins were stellar from beyond the arc early, sinking three 3-pointers in a first quarter that saw the lead change four times.
Bear River’s Johnny Cassar hit a trey with 2:30 left in the half cut the Colfax lead to 21-20 but the Falcons tallied the final six points of the second quarter and the first seven of the third quarter to turn it into a rout.
Colfax used a stingy zone defense to keep the Bruins from finding open outside looks.
“We did a really good job of rotating and keeping our hands up,” Colfax coach Mike O’Connell said. “They tried to make it a perimeter-oriented game, and that gave us control of the boards.”
For Colfax, Justin Witt scored 12, Chase Mosier had six points and Joey Jergo and Austin Oberg added five points apiece.
Colfax hosts Mesa Verde at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.