A18
Sports
wallowa.com
Wallowa roundball
teams conclude with
Echo, Powder Valley
By Paul Wahl
Wallow County Chieftain
Wallowa High School
Girls Basketball team ended
their season with two losses.
The Lady Cougars held
Echo fairly close, losing
25-39, but were trounced by
Powder Valley, 24-80.
Wallowa defeated Echo
last time around and had
expected to see the same
result,
coach
Annette
Moeller said.
Echo came out to a fast
start, outscoring Wallowa
12-2 in the first quarter.
Shanna Rae Tillery led
scoring with 10, Grace
Pendarvis and Ashlyn
Young had 3 each and Riley
Ferré, Ella Moeller and Bai-
ley Hafer two each.
“We were 3-for-17 from
the free-throw line and that
makes up a lot of points for
us,” Coach Moeller said.
“We also didn’t shoot well
as the girls experienced a lot
of pressure to win to con-
tinue into districts.”
Powder Valley scored 20
points in the opening quarter
and never looked back.
Tillery had 10 for Wal-
lowa, Ferré had six, Young
4 and Moeller and Hafer had
two apiece.
“Powder Valley has sev-
eral seniors who had been
playing together for some
time,” Coach Moeller said.
“We just couldn’t get our
shots to fall.”
Although the Lady
Cougs will not be advancing
to post-season play, Coach
Moeller said she rates the
season as good.
“This was a very young
team, but every game we
saw improvement,” she said.
Even coaches of oppos-
ing teams noticed the efforts.
“Next year we’ll be con-
tenders with this group,”
Coach Moeller added.
“They gave it their all every
time they walked on the
floor.”
The Wallowa Boys Var-
sity team finished the season
with a nail-biter win over
Echo, 58-55, and a drubbing
by Powder Valley, 16-79.
Alexis Sykora
This week’s athlete of the week is Joseph Charter School senior, Alexis Sykora, 17.
During her final home game, Sykora scored 26 of the team’s 38 points in a
losing effort against defending state champs Nixyaawii.
Coach Homan summed up her team contributions.
“It is hard to put into words just how proud I am of Alexis and all she has accomplished.
She has been a 2nd team all-league player, a 1st team all-league player, all-district
tournament player the past two years, and an all-state player just to name a few.
She has a bright future ahead of her and I feel privileged
to have been her coach for a couple of years.”
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February 14, 2018
Wallowa County Chieftain
Eagle teams finish regular season play
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
It was the best of times; it
was the worst of times for the
Joseph Charter School Eagles.
Friday saw both the girls
and boys squads heaping abuse
on their Griswold opponents
while Saturday saw Nixyaawii
doing the same to the Eagles,
albeit the Eagle boys put in
a poor showing against the
Golden Eagles.
The Eagle ladies traveled
to Griswold for Friday’s event,
which saw the girls winning,
56-42. After a slow first half
with only Madelyn Nelson and
Emma Hite keeping the Eagles
in the contest the team was
down by only two at the half-
way mark.
The ladies turned on the fire
in the second half with perfor-
mances by Haley Miller, Nel-
son and Sabrina Albee, who
carried the load offensively in
the third quarter
Coach Lance Homan also
noted the defensive play of
Hite and senior Alexis Sykora,
who played well defensively
the whole game and held down
the larger Grizzlies inside play-
ers while the Eagle guards cre-
ated turnovers that led to easy
scores.
“This was a tale of two
halves, and I am very proud
of how our girls responded to
some adversity,” Homan said.
“This was a good win on the
road in our league.”
Albee led the scoring with
16 while Sykora added 12
and Nelson came up with 11
points.
Saturday’s game saw the
girls coming out on the short
end of a 72-38 score. The ladies
had nothing to be ashamed of.
They played hard and put in a
sterling effort against the unde-
feated Golden Eagles, the state
title holder riding a 50-game
winning streak.
Senior Alexis Sykora stole
the show for the Eagles, scor-
ing 26 of the team’s 38 points,
the only player to shoot in dou-
ble digits. Albee added eight
points to the Eagle’s efforts.
Photos by Steve Tool/Chieftain
Wheels on his heels. Eagles
senior Jean Luc Palma is
miles ahead of the compe-
tition and everyone else on
this layup caused by a turn-
over Palma instigated during
Joseph’s 72-53 loss to Nixy-
aawii on Saturday, Feb. 10.
Eagles senior Alexis Sykora, left, and freshman Sabrina Al-
bee bring the ball upcourt in the waning minutes of Joseph’s
72-38 loss to state titleholder Nixyaawii on Saturday, Feb. 10
at Joseph.
Homan said the game was
sad, but he wasn’t talking
about the score or the efforts
of the ladies. He was talking
of Sykora and her last Eagles
home game.
“Alexis Sykora is our lone
senior and to see her play her
last regular season game at
home was emotional,” he said.
“Alexis has meant so much to
Joseph basketball. It’s hard to
put into words just how proud
I am of Alexis and all she has
accomplished.”
As far as the game against
Nixy, they came into Joseph
having won 50 consecutive
games, and they are a clear
favorite to win the state title
again this year.
“In saying that, our kids
competed and played with a lot
of heart,” Homan said. “Alexis
was fabulous tonight scoring
26 points and snaring numer-
ous rebounds. I am very proud
of our kids and look forward to
the district tournament.
The lady Eagles next play
at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb.
15 in a district contest against
Echo.
The boys put a major hurt
on the Griswold lads, posting a
57-26 victory that left the Griz-
zlies reeling back to their caves
to serve out the rest of their
hibernation. Coach Olan Fulfer
liked what he saw of the boys.
“We moved the ball and
played hard on defense, and
when we do that, great things
are going to happen,” he said.
“We started out down 4-11, but
we stayed together as a team
and instead of giving up, we
pulled together and made some
points and defensive stops.”
The boys could say no such
thing about Saturday’s efforts
in their 53-72 home loss to
Nixyaawii that should have
been the other way around.
Joseph showed they can play
championship-caliber basket-
ball but also showed their lack
of cohesion and commitment
to the game when the chips are
down for only a moment.
The Eagles started out fine,
building a 20-13 lead in the first
quarter. The Golden Eagles
were on the ropes, with two of
their starters panting and out of
breath. After a brief timeout,
Nixyaawii sank a three-pointer
and most of the Eagles squad
folded their wings and decided
all was lost at that point.
The Golden Eagles forced
three quick turnovers as Joseph
ballplayers normally known
for their ballhandling skills
suddenly developed butterfin-
gers and handed over the ball
to Nixy again and again.
The Golden Eagles no lon-
ger had to work up a sweat as
Joseph was sluggish bringing
the ball upcourt and responded
to possession changes with
a pace that can charitably be
described as dawdling. The
Golden Eagles won going
away without trying. Only
Caevan Murray and Jean Luc
Palma put in creditable efforts.
“We have to find consis-
tency,” Fulfer said. “We had
the best start we’ve had all sea-
son, and what we’re doing is
letting a little momentum shift
destroy everything that we
built. We build the momentum
and they hit one shot and we
fall apart. We have to be able
to take those hits and keep on
going if we want to do any-
thing at districts or go on to
state.”
Fulfer noted the play of
Murray and Palma as the
game’s only real bright spots.
Murray led the scoring with 15
and rebounded in the double
digits while Palma dialed in for
13 points and caused a number
of Nixyaawii’s turnovers with
his stellar defensive plays in
the team’s losing effort.
The Eagles next play Cove
at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15,
in Baker, in the first round of
district play.
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