Legislator to Introduce Resolution Honoring Late Coach After Colfax Basketball Championship

Colfax, Wash. — In what Rep. Joe Schmick calls “a perfect resolution to cap off a perfect season,” the Colfax Bulldogs boys basketball team will be formally honored on the floor of the state legislature for an undefeated campaign that ended with a State 2B championship and unfolded against the backdrop of heartbreaking loss.

Schmick, R-Colfax, announced Monday that he will introduce a resolution recognizing the team’s 2023-24 title run, its flawless record, and the legacy of head coach Reece Jenkin, who guided the program for more than two decades and amassed more than 300 victories before succumbing to pancreatic cancer on Feb. 27 at age 45.

“This team didn’t just win a championship,” Schmick said. “They showed the entire state what resilience, character and community support look like. In a small town like Colfax, people rally around each other in difficult times, and this season showed the very best of that.”

Jenkin received his diagnosis in December, prompting assistant David Cofer—already the school’s head football coach—to join the basketball staff and help steer the Bulldogs through the postseason. Cofer learned of the planned legislative tribute only Sunday, less than 24 hours after Colfax secured the state crown.

“We’re really honored,” Cofer said. “It’s cool to see that recognition at that level. I think that’s a huge honor for what these boys accomplished.”

The resolution will salute both the players’ on-court perfection and the spirit that sustained them after Jenkin’s death, leaving behind his wife and three children.

“Being a small-town coach is hard, because everybody knows everybody,” Schmick noted. “I think he’s done it well.”

A date for the resolution’s formal introduction has not yet been set.