Colfax girls win NorCals to reach state championship game; last Sacramento-area team left
And then there was one.
The Colfax Falcons expected to make a run to the CIF state basketball championships at Golden 1 Center, but they never dared consider they would be the only Sacramento-area team competing on the season’s final weekend.
Of the 30 regional girls and boys programs that entered the CIF Northern California tournament, the Colfax girls now stand alone. Seeded third in Division III and without the services of their second-leading scorer, Colfax relied on depth, desire and a lot of free throws to beat No. 9 Caruthers of Fresno County 53-52 on Tuesday night at Ron Pucci Pavilion on its snow-covered campus.
A full house saw Colfax win its 22nd consecutive game in improving to a school-record best 34-2. But to do so, the Falcons had to hold off scoring sensation Morgan Triguiero’s four 3-pointers and 24 points. The Blue Raiders of the Central Section finished 27-8.
Juliette James, a 5-foot-11 sophomore post, led Colfax with 16 points, including making 8 of 10 free throws. Senior forward and team captain Maycee Heimann scored 13, including two free throws for a 50-47 lead with just over a minute to go, following a steal and drive to the basket.
Steady senior floor leader Gabriella Biitner made a free throw to Colfax up 51-47. Lauryln Massic, who scored all nine of her points in the second half, made two free throws with 7.1 seconds remaining to make it 53-49. Moments later, the Falcons were celebrating their fourth NorCal championship, all since 1983.
That Colfax won again without prolific guard Kaia Diederichs speaks of the program’s depth. The sophomore multi-sport star went down with a hamstring injury in a CIF NorCal soccer championship on Saturday, having scored 48 goals on the season. She had 28 points in her team’s Sac-Joaquin Section championship basketball victory over Riverbank at Golden 1 Center on Feb. 24, the program’s 12th such banner.
“That’s the beauty of it — this whole ride has been with a lot of sacrifice,” Colfax coach Rexanne Simpton said. “We have players who keep stepping up, and the kids are realizing what it takes to be a champion. And the girls love the school spirit. They feed on that.”
In short, this is a tradition-rich program that dates back more than 40 years. Colfax opened in 1959. It remains old school and cool school with a gym that opened in 2004 and still sparkles.
Heimann’s mother, Michelle (Cornell) Heimann, was on the 1992 Colfax team that had the previous school record of 33 wins, under coach Jim Ryan. Longtime Colfax Record and Gold Country Media reporter Mike Ray, now retired, said Michelle Heimann is “a spitting image of her daughter, a 5-10 swing player, tough defender, long arms.”
Maycee Heimann’s father, Justin, also played sports at Colfax in the early 1990s and is the school’s athletic director. This is the sort of common theme that connects the generations at this proud school.
The first player coach Simpton embraced after the victory was Biitner, the 5-3 senior guard.
“She’s the backbone of our team,” the coach said. “She runs the show for us. She scores when we need her to, makes great plays, just does it all, a coach’s dream. She gets the game of basketball, and she’s got the softest heart.”
In what has been a long tradition, Colfax players raced over to perform the school fight song with students that packed that side of the bleachers, everyone in white. Then the team took a team photo with the championship plaque and everyone clutching medals, posing in front of that rooting section.
VCA Out and Colfax’s next opponent
Valley Christian of Roseville was the only other area team still alive entering the week. The third-seeded Lions lost 110-84 at top-seeded San Francisco Waldorf in the NorCal D-VI regional final, capping a season in which VCA won the program’s first section championship under longtime coach Brad Gunter Jr., whose team was led this season by junior guard Chase Clary.
D-VI programs do not advance past the NorCal final round, but all other divisions do. This includes Colfax. The Falcons will play Southern California Regional champion Los Osos of Rancho Cucamonga in San Bernardino County at 2 p.m. Friday at Golden 1 Center.
The Grizzlies (28-5) come from a campus of nearly 3,000 students. Colfax has 660 students but has shown it can compete with anyone. The striking difference in enrollment is tied to the CIF’s “competitive-equity” state-playoff model in which enrollment does not outweigh the strength of a program, based on scheduling and championship success.
Before competitive equity came into play in 2018, regional playoff games were often lopsided. They have since mostly been games to the wire. Colfax lives for that sort of thing.
Girls NorCal finals
Girls
Open Division
No. 2 Mitty 86, No. 5 Salesian 49
State championship game
Mitty vs. Etiwanda, Saturday, 6 p.m.
Division I
No. 2 Oakland Tech 82, No. 1 St. Mary’s 71
State championship game
Oakland Tech vs. Santiago, Friday, 6 p.m.
Division II
Central 62, Pleasant Valley 51
State championship game
Central vs. Bonita Vista, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Division III
No. 3 Colfax 53, No. 9 Caruthers 52
State championship game
Colfax vs. Los Osos, Friday, 2 p.m.
Division IV
San Domenico 42, Menlo School 39
State championship game
San Domenico vs. Shallhevet, Friday, 10 a.m.
Division V
No. 3 Bret Harte 58, No. 1 Fall River 47
State championship game
Bret Harte vs. Marina, Friday, 10 a.m.
Division VI
No. 3 Weed at No. 1 Cornerstone Christian, March 8
▪ All CIF state finals are at Golden 1 Center
Boys NorCal finals
Open Division
No. 3 St. Joseph 72, No. 1 Modesto Christian 58
State championship game
St. Joseph vs. Harvard-Westlake, Saturday, 8 p.m.
Division I
No. 9 Granada 60, No. 6 Salesian 47
State championship game
Granada vs. Sherman Oaks, Friday, 8 p.m.
Division II
No. 6 Memorial 67, No. 5 Vanden 61
State championship game
Memorial vs. Pacifica Christian
Division III
No. 9 Oakland 77, No. 3 Oakland Tech 61
State championship game
Oakland vs. Buena, Friday, 4 p.m.
Division IV
No. 10 Half Moon Bay 71, No. 5 Chico 59
State championship game
Half Moon Bay vs. Valencia, Saturday, noon
Division V
No. 5 Sierra 47, No. 3 Ripon Christian 41
State championship game
Sierra vs. Lynwood, Friday, noon
Division VI
No. 1 San Francisco Waldorf 110, Valley Christian 84
Season over
▪ All state finals at Golden 1 Center
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 4:00 AM.