Ridgefield 70, Columbia High 50

Columbia trailed 32-26 at halftime after holding a 16-15 first-quarter edge, but rallied to tie the game twice in third quarter before Ridgefield forged ahead for good with a pair of Drew Bleth free throws.

The closest CHS got in the fourth quarter was one point, when Nick Patrick, who led CHS with 21 points, sank 1-of-2 technical foul shots to make it 48-47 with 6:57 remaining.

Ridgefield scored the next eight points to push its lead to nine, then countered Patrick's final 3-pointer with a 14-0 streak to win going away.

"The kids played hard. They didn't quit," CHS athletic director Howard Kreps said of the Bruins. Kreps helped assistant coach Josh Yarnell lead the Bruins in the absence of head coach Scott Kasenga, who missed the game because of the flu.

"When it came right down to it, Ridgefield just had too many weapons," Kreps added.

Bleth scored a game-high 27 points for the Spudders, who also got 18 from Franky Iniguez and 15 from Troy Bleth.

Andrew Culp tallied 13 for the Bruins, including eight in the second quarter that helped keep the game close.

Leading scorer Josabet Pulido was limited by foul trouble to four points, all in the first period; he fouled out with 2:20 to play, with CHS trailing by 10.

Much earlier, in the third quarter, it looked as if the Spudders might pull away the way they did in the fourth.

Justin Dougherty, Ridgefield's 6-foot-6 center, netted 1-of-2 free throws to put the Spudders ahead, 40-29. But the Bruins showed the visitors they still had some game left.

Beginning at the midway point of the quarter, the Bruins strung together 11 straight points--a 3-pointer by Christian Rolly, a three-point play by Whitney Butler, a 15-footer by Patrick and a 3-ball by Patrick--that tied the score at 40-all at the 2:11 mark.

A basket by Troy Bleth ended the Bruins' run, but Greg Tellez made it a new ball game once again, at 42-42, when he converted two free throws with 1:29 to go in the quarter.

The game was still very much up for grabs early in the fourth as Culp dropped in a pair of foul shots and scored on a putback to bring CHS within 48-46.

On the ensuing possession, Drew Bleth committed a turnover and drew a technical foul after expressing his disagreement with the call.

But Patrick, who opened the game by sinking two technical foul shots (because of a Ridgefield scorebook snafu) for a quick 2-0 CHS lead, was only able to come up with a split the second time he toed the line.

It was virtually all Ridgefield after that as Iniguez kicked off an 8-0 run with a steal and layin. The only points CHS could muster down the stretch was a 3-pointer by Patrick that cut the deficit to 56-50.

Next up:

CHS visited La Center on Tuesday, travels to Woodland on Friday and hosts Hockinson next Tuesday, Feb. 8.