A10
WEDNESDAY
January 16, 2019
Joseph Eagle Tyler Homan comes
up short as Wallowa Cougars’
Zeb Hermens (33) puts in a layup
during Wallowa’s Saturday,
Jan. 12 upset victory over
formerly 10th-ranked Joseph.
Amber Mock/Chieftain
UPSET!
Cougars humble Joseph Eagles in ‘dog fight’
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
I
t must have seemed like a lock. The Joseph
Eagles boys, ranked at or near the top 10
facing off in an away game against the
48th-ranked Wallowa Cougars. What
could go wrong?
Everything, if you’re Joseph. The Cou-
gars shot the Eagles from the sky, 44-37, in a hard
fought contest that Cougars coach, David Howe,
called a dog fi ght from the get-go.
Howe said the Cougars struggled early, after
football playoffs kept several players from fully
participating in practice. Injuries also played a role.
“I am hopeful that maybe after Saturday’s win
that we have turned the corner,” he said. He also
noted that Zeb Hermens played lights out at point
guard while Mason Moore hit some timely shots.
Christopher Nobles got accolades after he came up
with some timely steals for Wallowa, which were
key to the victory.
Nobles held the scoring torch with 15 and Tris-
tin Bales placed nine. Wyatt Prince added eight for
the cause.
Joseph coach, Olan Fulfer, was not pleased with
his team’s performance.
“We’re not making shots,” he said. “We need
to work harder. We missed more lay-ins and close
shots, and it hurts our defense. We have to make it
a habit.”
Mason Ferre led the scoring with 10 while Had-
ley Miller added seven and Kade Kilgore knocked
two three-pointers through the hoop down the
stretch.
“He’s been stepping up big-time; I can’t say
enough good things about him,” Fulfer said. “He
hits shots, he plays defense — Kade’s our most
consistent player.”
Enterprise girls split; Outlaw boys drop two
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Enterprise girls basketball
team had a bittersweet weekend:
Losing to Heppner in overtime
64-61, but breezing past Stanfi eld
53-43 the following day.
Despite the loss, Coach Mike
Crawford saw some positives in
the Heppner game.
“We had opportunities over
and over, but we didn’t convert,”
he said. “It was a one-point game
for minutes and minutes.”
Karli Bedard put up 20 points
and 14 boards in the effort while
Lexie Gassett scored 12, going
6-for-6 from the free throw line.
Senior Shelby Moncrief added
10 points to the effort and Ashlyn
Gray hauled in 12 boards.
“We took enough out of them
(Heppner) that they lost the next
night,” Crawford said.
The following game saw
the ladies pull their pistols for
the 53-43 victory behind three
14-point efforts by Gray, Mon-
crief and Bedard.
“We didn’t get the rest we
needed, but we got enough,”
Crawford said. “We got through
double travel for the weekend and
won.”
The coach also noted that the
ladies were 4-2 halfway through
the league season and if the sec-
ond half went that well, the team
could expect to make a trip to
state.
“We know who we can beat
and who we can play with,”Craw-
ford said. “Everybody circles the
day they play us because they
have to bring it that day.”
The week left the ladies with a
4-2 league record and 12-4 over-
all. They next play at home versus
Pilot Rock on Saturday, Jan. 19.
EHS boys
The Outlaws boys continued to
struggle, succumbing in two con-
secutive games over the week-
end. The Friday, Jan. 11 game vs
Heppner proved a major stumble,
with the boys reeling after a 68-31
defeat.
Coach Larry Wells noted that
Heppner is at the top of the league.
The Outlaws also lost the services
of point guard Riley Masters, who
was out with an illness.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well
against them and our perimeter
shots were not consistent,” Wells
said. “You can’t win many games
with 31 points.”
The following day’s game
against Stanfi eld showed more
hope, but the Outlaws fell short,
39-34.
Coach Wells said that the team
came out strong and stayed strong
through most of the contest, lead-
ing by as many as nine points and
playing excellent defense until
the closing minutes. Once again,
clock management and turnovers
cost the game.
“We lost in the last three or
four minutes,” Wells said. “We
have leads in these games and
have given them away. It’s a little
frustrating our losses have been in
our control.”
The weekend left the boys 1-5
on the season in league play and
7-10 overall. They also play Pilot
Rock at home on Jan. 19.
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