Small but mighty good: Colfax basketball completes CIF section 3-peat behind star senior trio

The Colfax High School girls basketball team epitomizes small-school pride.

Falcons girls basketball coach Rexanne Simpton fully understands and recognizes the “beauty” in what the program has done to represent the Placer County town. Rarely do kids who grow up in Colfax transfer to play sports at different schools for what might be perceived to be better opportunities.

It’s Falcon pride personified.

Colfax’s winning tradition continued Friday afternoon in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship at Golden 1 Center. The top-seeded Falcons earned their third straight section title and 14th overall, which is the second-most in the section behind only St. Mary’s of Stockton, with a 73-50 win over Ponderosa of Shingle Springs.

“I’m just incredibly blessed to be running the show here at Colfax,” Simpton said. “These girls are just a bunch of fighters.”

Simpton’s core group is her trio of four-year varsity seniors who have carried the Colfax torch masterfully. Juliette James sang a poignant rendition of the national anthem in front of the scorer’s table in the NBA venue before posting 14 points and 12 rebounds. Kaia Diederichs nearly had a triple-double by the end of the third quarter, finishing with 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. And Laurlyn Massick led five players in double-figures with 15 points and five rebounds.

It’s a group that’s grown up playing and creating lifelong memories together. They’re all set to play at the next level: James at Chico State, Massick at Franciscan University in Ohio and Diederichs at Westmont College for soccer.

“We’ve been playing together since second grade, so I mean, it’s pretty special to grow up playing basketball with these two,” said James. “I’m just really happy that we got this far and that we’ve been able to accomplish so much together.”

This core group has now played at Golden 1 Center five times in their careers — twice for section championships, twice for CIF State titles and once in the regular season. The Falcons’ continued success has consistently moved them up into larger school divisions. Colfax enrolls about 625 students and rolled through a bracket full of teams more than twice its size.

But the winning feeling never gets old.

“It feels like a new one every time,” Massick said. “Every year you start over a new season, and every year we work hard to get where we are today.”

Playing in memory of JV coach

Colfax dedicated its season to the late former junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant Jordan Duran, who died of ovarian cancer in September. She was 32.

The Falcons have worn teal uniforms during select home games this season to honor Duran and bring awareness to the disease. Duran coached a handful of the current varsity players at Colfax and made a profound impact.

“She’s always been in our mind, and we know she’s with us,” Simpton said of Duran. “September was rough. I think she would be proud of how hard these girls have worked, and I think it makes it even more special just to do it for her.”

Who’s up next for Colfax?

Colfax (26-6) coaches and players will tell you there’s still work to be done, having come up empty-handed in the previous two CIF State championship games. The Falcons have been the only Sacramento region team to play for a state title — boys or girls — in each of the past two seasons.

But it’s not too early to identify the next torch-bearers for Colfax. Junior Madalyn Sigrist scored 11 points and pulled down five rebounds in Friday’s final. Sophomore Claire Piper started and scored four points with seven rebounds and four assists. And freshman Belle Chu played far larger than her 5-foot frame might assume. Chu scored 12 points, including a pair of near NBA-range 3-pointers and grabbed five rebounds.

“Our motto this year is ‘one heartbeat,’ and it’s like when one system of the body shuts down, somebody else steps in,” Simpton said. “You take one person away, and we execute, do things right. Other people step up. So that’s pretty spectacular.”

Ponderosa’s season not finished

After an unbeaten 25-0 flag football campaign in the fall, Ponderosa continued its hot streak from the girls’ side of the Bruins’ athletic department in the winter. The girls basketball team sprinted to an 18-0 start and earned a No. 2 seed in the D-II bracket.

Brooklynn Nordquist, who took home Sacramento Bee Player of the Year honors after the section championship flag football season, led the Bruins lady hoopers with 17 points and six rebounds in the finals against Colfax on Friday.

Ponderosa (27-5) will join Colfax in CIF Northern California competition starting Tuesday as all section finalists and semifinalists in Divisions I-V earn automatic regional bids to the NorCal tournament.

Nick Pecoraro is a sports journalist and host of “Premier Preps with Nick Pecoraro,” a weekly prep show available on YouTube that recaps games and teams in the Sacramento area each week. Find it at youtube.com/@PremierPreps.

This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 5:41 PM.