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Sports
wallowa.com
February 21, 2018
Wallowa County Chieftain
Lady Outlaws go to state
Boys wrap up season
with loss to Elgin
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
T
he Enterprise Lady Outlaws
missed the Wapiti league title
while the boys fell off their horse
with a season-ending defeat
against Elgin in district playoffs at La
Grande Feb. 16-17.
The ladies met Elgin on Friday, defang-
ing the Huskies with a 45-31 victory,
despite shooting only 28 percent from the
field.
Gracie Carlsen led the Outlaws with 11
points, shooting 50 percent from the floor
with an identical percentage from outside
the paint. She was the only Outlaw to sink
a three-pointer in the contest.
Lexie Gassett and Riley Gray fol-
lowed with eight points apiece and Ashlyn
Gray put six points through the rim. Karli
Bedard hauled down 16 rebounds and
denied three Huskies shots while contrib-
uting four points for the win.
Saturday’s game against Grant Union
saw the Outlaws just missing victory
against Grant Union, falling 45-37 in a
hard-fought battle.
The Outlaws were down 29-27 going
into the final quarter where they tied the
game at one point, only to see it slip away
as they scored only 10 compared to the
Prospectors’ 16. Poor floor shooting, 29
percent, contributed toward the loss.
“We battled ourselves into the same
type of deal as when Grant Union played
here,” Coach Mike Crawford said. “We did
everything we could to get us there, every-
thing but make the baskets.” He added that
several key turnovers also helped turn the
tide against the Outlaws.
Carlsen and Riley Gray led the scor-
ing with 11 points each while Ashlyn Gray
again knocked six points in the bucket
and stuffed two Grant Union shots. Reece
Christman pulled down 11 rebounds for the
cause, and Riley Gray stuffed two Prospec-
tor’s shots.
The ladies head to Oakland on Feb. 23
for their first state playoff game.
Outlaw boys
The boys won two of three over last
week with a critical Friday loss to Elgin
blowing their chances at a state playoff
berth. The Outlaws met up with Union on
Feb. 13, prevailing in an exciting 56-54
overtime victory over the Bobcats.
The Elgin game saw the boys hand over
the victory on a silver platter to the Hus-
kies. The Outlaws came up on the losing
end of a 40-35 score due to a lack of poise
in the clutch.
“It was a little disappointing,” Coach
Larry Wells said. “It was obviously a key
game for us to get into state.”
The team held a 12-point halftime lead
over Elgin, 25-13. According to Coach
Wells, the team decided to hold with their
game plan at the break, but only scored 10
more points the remainder of the game, six
points in the third quarter and four in the
fourth.
He added that it had been the team
intention to hold Elgin to 40 points, but the
lack of offense was a factor. Several key
Outlaws players failed to deliver from the
floor.
Brett Greenshields led the scoring with
12 while Dylan Marr score eight. No other
player had more than five points,
The final Outlaws game on Saturday
was a little brighter as the boys ended the
season with a 52-47 victory in a second
meeting with Union.
Jimmy Wells led the scoring with 24
points after scoring only two against Elgin.
Chris Bathke had his best game of the sea-
ABOVE: Lady Out-
law Karli Bedard ties
it up with Elgin’s
Sarah Becker during
Friday’s matchup in
district play at La
Grande High School.
LEFT: Outlaw senior
Brycen Locke works
the ball as Elgin’s
Ian Smith makes a
defensive move on
his left during Fri-
day’s district basket-
ball tournament ac-
tion in La Grande.
Paul Wahl/Chieftain
son, scoring nine and playing excellent
defense and team ball.
“We executed everything that we
needed to and made adjustments where we
needed to,” Wells said. “We played team
basketball in the final chapter for these
seniors.”
The boys ended their season with a
3-5 Wapiti League record, finishing third,
while compiling a 9-13 record overall.
Eagles teams advance to state playoffs
Both finish third in
districts
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
The boys and girls Eagles team
went 2-3 over the weekend in district
basketball play in Baker City, and both
also fell to arch-rival Powder Valley.
Both teams clinched third place in the
Old Oregon League and will go on to
compete at state.
The lady Eagles played masterful
ball in their 60-30 rout of Echo Feb.
14. Coach Lance Homan said that the
team played a complete game with all
the ladies stepping up from the begin-
ning to the end.
“We had a very balanced attack
and really played well defensively
with 17 steals and creating 34 turn-
overs,” he said.
Madelyn Nelson and Sabrina
Albee flew high over the scoring with
15 points each while teammate Alexis
Sykora knocked in 12 and brought in
five boards.
Friday’s game saw the Eagles
girls nearly put Powder Valley under
despite the 60-46 score, with the
ladies cutting the lead to five in the
fourth quarter but unable to get over
the hump.
“Powder is a very tough team and a
tough matchup for us, but I was proud
of how our girls fought,” he said.
Homan noted the second half play
of Sykora in the loss. The JCS senior
knocked in 21 of the team’s 46 points
while hauling in 10 rebounds in a spar-
kling effort. Albee contributed 13 to
the battle.
The ladies put in a herculean defen-
sive effort in a 52-38 victory over
Griswold Feb. 17. The Eagles forced
29 turnovers in the battle. The team’s
offense sputtered for a time but Sykora
and Albee put on amazing fourth-quar-
ter performances for the victory.
Paul Wahl/Chieftain
Paul Wahl/Chieftain
Joseph’s Mason Ferre finds himself in pursuit of a Cove player
while teammate Kade Kilgore keeps up during Thursday’s dis-
trict tournament action in Baker City.
Joseph’s Haley Miller looks to the basket with two Echo players reaching in during
Thursday’s nights district tournament play in Baker City.
“Our kids played their hearts out
for the win,” Homan said. “Griswold
is a tough team to play. They were
focused and really wanted the get the
third spot in our district and make it
to state.”
Sykora led the scoring with 19
while Albee knocked in a 17-point
effort. Nelson contributed seven
points to the total.
The ladies play at Sherman Feb.
20.
Eagle boys
The boys met Cove on Thursday
coming away with a 44-35 victory.
The Eagles looked for an easy cruise
after ending the first quarter with a
16-2 lead.
However, Cove fired back, allow-
ing the Eagles only six in the second
quarter while scoring eight. Both
teams scored 13 in the third quarter
with the Eagles’ 12 in the final quar-
ter sealing the win.
“Every team is playing for their
season, and Cove brought everything
they could,” Coach Olan Fulfer said.
“They made everything tough.”
In one of his best games of the
season, junior Tyler Homan knocked
at the door with 15 points, three
steals and four rebounds. Post Cae-
van Murray sailed in with 11 points
and seven rebounds while Chase
Murray brought eight points to the
table. Fulfer also noted the defensive
wizardry of freshman Mason Ferre.
“His whole weekend was pretty
amazing,” Fulfer said.
Friday was the Powder Valley
matchup. For much of the game, it
looked like the Eagles would tri-
umph. They trailed by one after the
first and went into the half, 27-25.
The Eagles went cold in the third,
scoring only five points and rallied in
the fourth, pulling within two late in
the game. Two turnovers and a Bad-
gers three-pointer sealed the deal,
Joseph coming up just short, 49-43.
“It was a tough battle,” Fulfer
said. “We were so close to winning
the district title.”
Caevan Murray led the charge
with 18 points and nine rebounds
“We’ve come to expect that he’ll
have a great game for us,” Fulfer said.
Chase Murray reeled in 13 while
Trey Wandschneider knocked seven
through the hoop.
In Saturday’s game against Wal-
lowa, the Eagles were flat until the
fourth quarter and after a pep talk
from Fulfer, the Eagles won going
away, 42-31.
Chase Murray led the Eagles with
16 while Wandschneider chipped in
another seven points.
The Eagles compete Feb. 21 at
Condon/Wheeler.