A9 WEDNESDAY January 21, 2015 Cougs lose heartbreaker By Rocky Wilson Wallowa County Chieftain Down 12 points at halftime, the Wallowa Cougar boys’ basketball team went on a 24- 12 second half run to knot the score at 37-37 with two min- utes to play against the Echo Cougars Saturday night in Wallowa, but couldn’t sustain their rally and lost 42-39. Wallowa Coach Greg Oveson said his team missed two critical layins in the ¿ nal minute and a half that could have changed the outcome of the game. “It was a real heartbreaker,” he said. Behind 25-13 at the half, guard Karl Wellens and post player Gareth Murray began chipping away at the lead un- til, with the home crowd in the game, WHS tied the game at 37. Oveson was realistic about the cause of the loss. “We can’t put ourselves that far back,” he said. WHS had ¿ ve players who scored points in the contest. Wellens tallied 12 points, Mur- ray 9, Noah Allen 8, Koby Frye 6, and Cole Hafer 4. The Cougars will go on the road this weekend and play Powder Valley Friday (which has the identical 2-3 in league and 6-8 overall record as WHS) and Nixyaawii Sat- urday (4-0 in league and 9-6 overall). Gareth Murray put up a three point shot in the second half of the Wallowa/Echo game Saturday evening at home. The Cougars who were down early rallied in the second half of the game and almost beat the team from over the mountains. Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain Wallowa senior Taylor Harshfield tries to keep an Echo Cougar in check Saturday evening in the Cougar Dome. Wallowa’s defense came up big in Saturday evening’s match up. League’s best falls big in Wallowa By Rocky Wilson Wallowa County Chieftain Wallowa Cougar girls’ team had a huge win Satur- day night. They beat the sev- enth-rated team in the state, Echo, in the Cougar Dome, but the twists and turns of that victory go much further than just the win. Wallowa girls entered the game with a 6-7 season mark and not only downed a team who had been 5-0 in 1A-Old Oregon League play, but downed them decisively by a - ¿ nal score. And yet the biggest head-scratcher for Wallowa coach Greg Oveson came in a statistical category not obvi- ous to the average fan. “We made 40 turnovers in that game. I’ve never had a team make that many turn- overs and still win the game,” said Oveson. And yet, a cursory look at the scorebook and it’s clear why Wallowa won the game by such a big score. From the free throw stripe, WHS girls converted 21 of 31 opportuni- ties and Echo 6 of 10; match- ing the 15-point differential of the ¿ nal score. Only one week earlier and Oveson was lamenting the fact his team had only taken more free throws than their opponent in one game all year. Echo became number two in a big way, After a slow ¿ rst Tuarter where the visitors led 10-6, WHS girl began dominating the backboards and raced to a 21-13 halftime lead that was not in danger thereafter. Wallowa’s Calli Miller led all rebounders with 14, and completed a double-double with 11 points as well. See LOSS, Page A16 Joseph E-Gals win ¿ rst league game S.F. Tool Wallowa County Chieftain The Joseph E-Gals won their ¿ rst league game of the season, sTueaking by Pine Eagle 38-36 in a Jan. 16 con- test. The win put the team at a 4-8 won/loss record, already matching the win total of last year. Satori Albee led the team in scoring, pouring in 20 points from the À oor. Satori also wrested 13 rebounds, as well as, a steal. Lindsay Kemp scored seven points while pulling down seven rebounds and notching two thefts. McKinzie Parker and Natalie Williams scored ¿ ve and four points respectively. “We had a great ¿ rst half and played really good de- fense and had good offensive FULLER TAKES FIRST AT OROFINO INVITE production. Satori Albee just had a monster game; she pret- ty much carried the team with her 20 points,” Coach Travis Huffman said. On the negative side, Huff- man said the team only scored 9 points in the second half and had troubles at the free throw line. “One of our strong points is free throws, and we were only 5 for 21,” Huffman said. The E-Gals played very good defense, but also had a lot of turnovers, Huffman not- ed. “Once we get that under control I think we’ll be a lot better off,” Huffman said. The team shot .333 from the ¿ eld and pulled down 43 rebounds, blocked two shots, along with 12 steals. The E-Gals next game is a rescheduled home match against Griswold/Helix Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. Courtesy photo Kannon Miller Enterprise grappler Zyler Hermens wrestled Brian Davis of Wallace at the Orofino Invitational last weekend. Hermens pinned Davis twice while wrestling in pod matches. All three Wallowa County schools attended the match with Joseph placing 6th and Enterprise placing 7th. Wallowa’s placement wasn’t available at press time, however senior Micah Fuller did come out a champion in his pod. Coach Troy Farwell said the pod matches are kind of a fun way to wrestle, offering more opportunities for a wrestler to compete on the weekend. Joseph boys beat Pine Eagle, get boost for second half of season By Rich Rautenstrauch Wallowa County Chieftain The Joseph Boys basket- ball team won a big league game Friday night beating Pine Eagle Spartans on their home court 40-37. The boys had a home game against the Griswold Grizzlies Sat- urday, but was canceled be- cause of winter travel con- ditions. Coach Olan Fulfer was pretty happy with the win over the Spartans, “Pine Eagle beat three of the teams we lost to this year so this win puts us where we should be competing in the league.” Joseph put together three good Tuarters in the game. In the first Tuarter Joseph scored nine to the Spartans eight. In the second Tuarter Joseph rallied scoring 17 to Pine Eagle’s seven. Joseph scored 12 in the third with Pine Eagle tallying six. Go- ing into the fourth Tuarter the boys were ahead 38-22. “We were playing not to lose. That didn’t work so well. We started missing our shots and turning the ball over. Pine Eagle came back scoring 14 points to our two. It was pretty excit- ing at the end. We’re going to simulate this in practice so we do better next time,” said Coach Fulfer. Cayden DeLury was the leading scorer for Joseph with 15. Aaron Borgerding had eight, Sam Beckman and Jake Chrisman each scored seven, Tyler John- son scored three and Wyatt Smith had two. Senior Noah DeLury was out of the line- up with an injury, but is expected to be cleared for practice Monday. Saturday’s canceled game against Griswold is re- scheduled and will be played Tuesday evening. Friday night Jan. 23, the Nixyaawii Eagles come to town. The Eagle boys are 2-4 in league play almost halfway through the season. Wallowa County sunrise and sunset January 22 - January 28 (from the U.S. Naval Observatory) Thursday, Jan. 22 Rise ..................................... 7:20 Set ....................................... 4:42 Friday, Jan. 23 Rise ..................................... 7:19 Set ....................................... 4:43 Saturday, Jan. 24 Rise ..................................... 7:18 Set ....................................... 4:44 Sunday, Jan. 25 Rise ..................................... 7:17 Set ....................................... 4:46 Monday, Jan. 26 Rise ..................................... 7:17 Set ....................................... 4:47 Tuesday, Jan. 27 Rise ..................................... 7:16 Set ....................................... 4:49 Neighbor to Neighbor Banking Since 1955 Partner With Us To Reach Your Personal or Business Financial Goals: CONSUMER & SMALL BUSINESS AGRICULTURAL & COMMERCIAL Personal Loans and Lines of Credit Auto and Recreational Loans Home Equity Loans and Lines of Credit Small Business Financing Commercial and Farm Real Estate Loans Business Equipment Financing Operating Lines of Credit Construction Financing Diane Witherrite AVP/Branch Manager Joseph 541-432-9050 NMLS # 1082566 Shannon Maslach Branch Manager Enterprise 541-426-4511 Adrian Harguess VP/Commercial Loan Officer 541-432-9050 541-426-4511 Hanley Kennedy VP/Commercial Loan Officer 541-432-9050 541-963-3434 60 YEARS 195 5 - 2015 www.communitybanknet.com Member FDIC Wednesday, Jan. 28 Rise ..................................... 7:14 Set ....................................... 4:50