SPORTS
8A — THE OBSERVER
HOOPS
Continued from Page 7A
“As soon as the fi rst one
goes in, you get more confi -
dence,” Glenn said. “You shoot
more, (and) if it goes in all of
a sudden your whole team is
shooting well and it’s kind of
just an energy creator.”
Union also wreaked havoc
on defense, forcing 28 Cove
turnovers — seven in each
quarter — and collecting
21 steals. The Bobcats also
crashed the boards, owning
a 33-25 rebound advantage
with more than half of
those — 18 — coming on the
offensive glass.
“We’re aggressive. We go
hard at defense in practice,”
Staff photos by Ronald Bond
Rickman-Johansen said.
Top: Union’s Callie Glenn, left, drives to the basket Saturday past Cove’s Raegan Duby.
“That’s a true passion of mine. Bottom: Cove’s Elli Hines-Dunlap, left, drives past Union’s Taylar Daggett.
We drill it a lot, (and) we talk
made just six, it was enough
about what it means to be a
to aid in the rally.
great defense. Teams don’t
Both Glenn and Taylar
like our defense, and I love it.”
Glenn attributed the energy Daggett had 10 points for
Union, with Daggett netting
to the team’s shot-making.
“Our shots going in created seven in the fi rst quarter.
Kylie Marriott added eight
energy for us, and that just
points.
moved our momentum for
Cove reached the title
everyone on point,” she said.
game with a comfortable win
“We were all going at it, and
Friday over Adrian, 45-22.
we were more fl uid in the
Frisch and Austin Kendall
second half.”
Union missed its fi rst nine each scored 13 points as the
Leopards quickly put Adrian
shots, and Cove led much of
away for their second win of
the fi rst half and went into
the season. Cove raced out
the break up 15-14 when
Moore scored on an inbounds to a 15-2 fi rst-quarter lead
and dropped 19 more points
pass with 42 seconds to play
in the second quarter for a
in the half.
commanding 34-12 lead at
Moore fi nished with nine
the half. Frisch had 10 points
points to lead Cove. Maggie
in the fi rst half, and Kendall
Frisch added seven points
had nine.
and 10 rebounds for the
Union (3-0 overall) faces
Leopards, who fell for the
Joseph Friday at the Badger
fi rst time this season.
Tournament in North Pow-
Audrey Wells added 10
der, while Cove (2-1) visits
points for Union, and Kohr
ing game overall,” head coach
in the fi rst quarter as the
Wallowa Thursday.
had seven assists.
Huskies built a 13-4 lead, one Brian Evans said.
The win was much less
The Huskies (2-0 over-
they pushed to double fi gures
Also
stressful for Union than
by halftime as they controlled all) host Weston-McEwen
ELGIN SWEEPS OPENING
Friday, when the Bobcats
Tuesday.
the rest of the game.
WEEKEND
shook off another up-and
On Saturday, Anderson
The Elgin Huskies opened
OUTLAWS SPLITS TWO IN
down shooting effort to come
the season with a pair of wins and Palmer were again the
CRANE
back in the fourth quarter
offensive leaders with 18 and
at the Elgin Lions Tourna-
The Enterprise Outlaws
and escape with a 41-39 win
ment, including a tight 46-44 eight points, respectively,
split a pair of contests in
over Echo.
win over Grant Union Satur- while Jocelyn Palmer added
Crane, losing Friday to the
The Bobcats, who led
seven and Gracie Evans
day night in its tournament
host Mustangs, 49-29, then
by three points at the half,
scored six. Anderson had
fi nale. The Huskies Friday
bouncing back to eke out a
scored just four points in the
nine in the second quarter as 35-33 win over Jordan Valley.
defeated the La Grande
third to fall behind 30-26
Elgin rallied from an early
junior varsity 47-36.
The Outlaws found
after three, then heated back
defi cit to take a 28-23 lead at themselves in a 15-2 hole
In the win Friday against
up in the fourth quarter and
the half, then pushed the lead after one quarter against
La Grande, Jayden Palmer
took advantage of a free-
to 40-33 after three before
and Tymra Anderson
Crane and were unable to
throw parade. The Bobcats
hanging on.
powered the offense with 18
dig themselves out of it. The
shot 15 free throws in the
“It was a good win for us
and 13 points, respectively.
Mustangs maintained a
fourth, and though they
(and) a great character-build- 13-point margin at the half
Palmer had 10 of her points
VOLLEYBALL
Continued from Page 7A
and the teams were tied at
22-22 all after a kill by Tay-
lor Tibbetts, but Westmont
scored the fi nal three points
for the early lead.
The Mountaineers were
on the cusp of a 2-0 defi cit
when Sydny Dunn served up
an ace for a 24-21 Westmont
lead, but EOU scored the
fi nal fi ve points to even the
set. Ackerman had a hand in
the fi nal three points, tying
the score at 24-24 with a kill,
teaming with Cambree Scott
on a block for the lead then
posting another kill to knot
the score.
Westmont had an answer
for each Eastern run after
that. The Mountaineers
used a 5-0 run to get within
13-11 in the third set on a
Megan Bunn kill, only to
see Westmont respond with
six straight points to take
control of the set.
In the fourth set, Eastern
rallied from fi ve down to get
within 21-20 on a block by
Scott. Another block by the
sophomore middle evened
the score at 22-22, and she
followed with a kill two
points later to keep the set
tied at 23-23.
Cassidy Rea, though, had
kills on the fi nal two points
to send Westmont on.
“It was rough to end that
way after having such a good
season,” Ackerman said. “We
were tired from the previ-
ous fi ve-set match the day
before, so that was a big
factor.… It was a good game,
and we fought hard to the
end, (but) it happens that
way sometimes.”
Four players reached
double fi gures in kills for
EOU, with Bunn and Acker-
man, two of Eastern’s four
seniors, leading the way with
15 and 14, respectively. Scott
and Jet Taylor added 12 and
11 kills, respectively, and
Scott also had eight blocks
— including the two solo
blocks late. Bunn also had
a career-best 32 digs, one
match after posting a career-
best and program-record 32
kills. Kiley McMurtrey (30),
Aspen Christiansen (17)
and Sade Williams (15) also
reached double fi gures in
digs, and Madison Pilon had
53 assists.
“It has a sting with it
ending earlier than we all
wanted, especially right
now,” Pilon said. “However, I
think that in a few months
when I look back on this
MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019
and extended it to 41-20 after
three quarters. The Outlaws
were hampered by 42 turn-
overs in the loss.
Ashlyn Gray had seven
points and nine rebounds to
lead Enterprise. Jada Gray
added six points, six boards
and four steals.
On Saturday, the Outlaws
rallied in the fourth quarter
to hold on for a close win in a
tight contest.
Enterprise led by one at
the half and trailed 25-23
after three quarters, but the
Outlaws put together their
best offensive effort in the
fourth to secure the win.
Jada Gray and Ashlyn
Gray again led the Outlaws
with eight and seven points,
respectively. Casidee Harrod
had eight rebounds and three
assists, and Asiya Salim col-
lected fi ve steals.
Enterprise (2-1 overall)
hosts Wallowa Friday.
BADGERS FALL TO DUFUR
A rough patch midway
through the game was too
much to overcome as the
Powder Valley Badgers suf-
fered their fi rst loss of the
season Saturday on the road
against Dufur, 39-33.
“We turned the ball over
too many times to win the
game,” head coach Allen
Bingham said.
Keanna Bingham scored
12 points in the loss to lead
the Badgers. Josi Krieger
added nine, and Autumn
Davis had eight. Powder Val-
ley, though, saw an early lead
dissipate, and the Rangers
outscored the Badgers 10-4
in the third to take over the
lead after three, 28-24, and
held on.
The Badgers took care of
an undermanned McKenzie
Eagles squad Friday in North
Lake, winning 53-5 in a game
they led 21-0 after one quar-
ter and 41-2 at halftime.
Josi Krieger had a
game-high 14 points for the
Badgers while Dallee Jo
Bingham added 10 points.
Powder Valley (2-1 overall)
faces Echo in the Powder Val-
ley Invite Thursday.
IMBLER LOSES TWICE IN
JOSEPH
The Imbler Panthers
dropped two games in
Joseph, falling Friday to Pilot
Rock, 44-15, and Saturday to
Prairie City, 32-17.
Elidia Rivas was the lead-
ing scorer Friday against
Pilot Rock with six points.
The Panthers were held off
the scoreboard in the fi rst
quarter and trailed 19-4 at
halftime.
Joelle Treat had fi ve points
and Anika McDonald added
four in Saturday’s matchup
against Prairie City, which
broke open the game with an
11-3 second quarter to take
an 18-5 lead at the half.
Imbler (0-3 overall) faces
Jordan Valley Thursday at
North Powder.
SHORTHANDED COUGARS
DROP TWO
The Wallowa Cougars had
a rough weekend on the court
and in the health department.
Wallowa hung with Coun-
cil, Idaho, before succumbing
Friday in overtime, 56-48,
and fell to the La Grande
junior varsity Saturday, 41-
35, in a pair of games at the
Elgin Lions Tournament.
On Friday, Wallowa and
Council went into overtime
tied at 44-44 before the Lum-
berjacks pulled away with 12
points in the extra session.
Shanna Rae Tillery led the
Cougars with 22 points, while
Haley Brockamp added 12
points.
Saturday, Wallowa shook
off an eight-point halftime
defi cit and held a 30-29 edge
through three quarters before
the Tigers fi nished off the
contest in the fourth.
Tillery was the spark on
offense for the shorthanded
Cougars with 27 points.
“(We’ve) been bitten by
the injury bug over the past
week, losing fi ve returning
starters before playing this
weekend’s games,” head
coach David Howe said, add-
ing the team had only fi ve
varsity players available on
the weekend.
Wallowa (0-3 overall) hosts
Cove Thursday.
EAGLES OPEN WITH TWO
VICTORIES
The Joseph Eagles began
the season with two domi-
nant home wins, blasting
Prairie City Friday, 48-16,
and Pilot Rock Saturday,
45-24.
Stats were not provided for
the Eagles (2-0 overall), who
face Adrian Thursday at the
Badger Tournament in North
Powder.
Photo by Cindy Potter/Columbia College
The Eastern Oregon University volleyball team, shown during a timeout at last week’s national tournament,
fi nished the 2019 season with a record of 31-5.
season I’ll be thinking about
how close we were as a team.
We had one of the best team
dynamics and I played with
some of the best teammates.”
The loss ends the season
with a record of 31-5, one
win shy of the program
record for victories set in
2016 and the third 30-win
season in the past six years.
It ended, though, short of the
deep run at nationals EOU
was hoping for.
“When that doesn’t hap-
pen it breaks your heart,”
McLean-Morehead said. “It
was not what we expected.”
The senior class, though
— Bunn and Ackerman as
four-year players for EOU,
and transfers Tibbetts and
Nina Bailey — leave a legacy
of dreaming lofty dreams for
Eastern’s volleyball program.
“That class, they have put
us on the map again because
of the success we have had
this season, and to be honest,
this is the fi rst time that
we tangibly talked about
a national championship,”
McLean-Morehead said. “For
them to dream it is the fi rst
step. It’s going to get there.”
Ackerman agreed.
“What we did as a team
this year is going to start the
legacy of that championship
mindset, even if things did
not go our way this year,” she
said. “The younger classes
have that mindset to look
forward to.”