A8
Wednesday
January 30, 2019
EHS BASKETBALL
Ladies still on a
tear, boys split
By steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Amber Mock/Chieftain
Wallowa Cougars player, Riley Ferre, goes up for two during her team’s 47-41 win over Nixyaawii on Saturday, Jan 26.
Wallowa girls add
to win column
Boys beat Elgin,
lose to Nixyaawii
By steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Wallowa High School girls var-
sity team took on the Elgin Huskies Fri-
day, January 25, at Elgin and came away
with a 45-37 win despite a slow start.
The Cougs trailed 3-10 at the first quar-
ter but closed the gap to three, 15-18 at
the half. The third quarter ended with the
girls down 23-26 before catching fire in
the fourth and won going away. Coach
David Howe said that sickness overcame
several of the players over the week,
causing several missed practices.
Jamie Johnston led Cougs’ scoring
with 16 points, followed by the always
reliable Shanna Rae Tillery with 10 in
the till. Riley Ferre snagged eight points
while Ella Moeller donated six points to
the win.
Howe noted the offensive and defen-
sive performance of Riley Ferre, whom
Howe said ties other teams in knots.
“Several of our younger players also
stepped up and contributed, in particu-
lar Haley Brockamp,” Howe said. “Ella
Moeller hit some key shots in the fourth
quarter to pull us through for the victory.”
The girls took on the Nixyaawii
Golden Eagles at Wallowa on the follow-
ing day and came away with a 47-41 win,
leading from the get-go after scoring
seven points before Nixwaawii answered
with points of their own.
Howe attributed the team’s success
to an improvement in outside shooting,
which he said helps open lanes for play-
ers in the post position.
“We made great strides in our mental
approach to the game, now we know we
can win rather than hoping we can win,”
he said. “That is a huge shift from the
beginning of the year. We still have a lot
of work to do and I feel like we are just
scratching the surface of what we could
be. I’m very proud of the girls and the
effort and sacrifices they are making.”
Johnston again led scoring with 17
points, followed by Tillery with lucky 13
through the hoop. Kyla Hook and Ella
Moeller each scrawled five points in the
playbook.
“We still have a lot of work to do, and
I feel like we are just scratching the sur-
face of what we could be,” Howe said.
“I’m very proud of the girls and the effort
and sacrifices they are making.”
The win was the fourth straight for the
lady Cougs. They now have firm grip on
third place in the league with a 6-2 record
while sitting at 9-9 overall. They next
play on Friday, Feb. 1 at Imbler at 6:00
p.m and Saturday, February 2 at Wallowa
at 4:00 p.m.
The tom Cougs also made their pres-
ence known over the weekend, knock-
ing the Huskies off the stoop, 36-35 in
pitched battle. The boys didn’t make the
victory easy, as they committed 39 turn-
overs but still managed to pull out the
victory. Coach Howe noted that Elgin
has great team quickness that cannot be
simulated in practice, which accounted
2005
CHEVROLET
2011
CHEVROLET
SUBURBAN 1500
STOCK #10675A
for some of the turnovers.
“Tristin Bales went to the free-throw
line for 2 shots with the game tied and
2.5 seconds remaining. Howe said. “He
missed the first and made the second
after the ball touched every part of the
rim.”
Iron man Christopher Nobles took
on all comers and led scoring with 16
points, followed by Tristin Bales with
eight through the hoop. Zeb Hermens
placed seven through the net while Wyatt
Prince chipped in with five.
“This was a game we really needed
in order to give ourselves a chance to
get into the district tournament,” Howe
said.”
The Cougs narrowly lost to Nixyaawii
the following day, 48-38. Bright spots
included a team low 11 turnovers and hit
42 percent of their shots.
The always double-teamed Nobles
led scoring with 26 points, followed by
Zane Mallory with five on the books.
Bales added three points to the total.
“Even though we lost on Saturday
versus Nixyaawii, we played a lot better
than the night before,” Howe said. “We
played without one of our starting posts,
Wyatt Prince, and sixth man Mason
Moore.” The coach also noted that Mal-
lory stepped up big for the squad on
defense and on the boards in the absence
of the missing players.
The tom Cougs are 3-5 in league play
and 6-12 overall. Like the ladies, they
next play Feb. 1 at Imbler while play-
ing from home the following day at
5:30 p.m.
2015
FORD
2015
TOYOTA
TAHOE 1500 LTZ
EXPLORER LIMITED
TUNDRA DOUBLE CAB SR/SR5
STOCK # 10670A
STOCK #10685A • 61,194 mi.
4WD, A/C, PS, PW, PWR LOCKS 4WD, A/C, ABS, CD, PS, PW, etc. 4WD, CD, A/C, PS, PW, LEATHER
The Enterprise girls continued their four-
game hot streak with convincing wins over
Weston-McEwen and Union on Jan. 25-26. Fri-
day, Jan. 25, saw the ladies melt the Weston-McE-
wen TigerScots down to puddles behind the one-
two punch of Zari Bathke and Ashlyn Gray, who
scored 12 and 13 points respectively.
The team upped their game by shooting 45
percent from the field with Bathke shooting 83
percent and Gray at 63 percent to lead the squad.
Senior Karli Bedard had her usual stellar night on
the boards, snatching nine.
The following night at Union saw the ladies
doing more of the same, declawing the Bobcats,
51-38 with senior Shelby Moncrief racking up
16 points for the cause, mostly scored on blister-
ing fast breaks by the Outlaws. Bathke stood next
in line with nine points while shooting 75 per-
cent from the floor and 100 percent from the free
throw line.
Rebound fiends, Karli Bedard and Ashlyn
Gray, had 16 and 15 boards respectively, more
than the entire Bobcat team combined.
“These were big wins that assure us of top
three in league, which gives us a chance to play
games for a shot at the championship,” Coach
Mike Crawford said. “We’re moving toward a trip
to the state playoffs.”
The coach noted Bathke’s continuing improve-
ment as she gains more minutes and confidence on
the floor. He also said that the team still has room
for improvement with both turnover and at the
free throw line. “We’re getting al little better each
week, if we continue we’ll be perfect. There’s
room to be better. We had 21 turnover, more than
lately. With decent free throw shooting, we’d have
gotten 65 points,” Crawford said. He also said the
team had fifteen fouls at halftime with three start-
ers who had accumulated four each although none
of the players fouled out due to good self-disci-
pline and a strong bench when the players needed
a break from the floor.
“Depth gives us energy to keep playing,” he
said. “We’ve just got to keep going.”
The ladies are now 15-4 overall and 7-2 in
league play while ranked seventh in the state.
They next play at home versus Heppner on Feb.
1 at 7:30 p.m.
The boys split their two games, first beating the
Weston-McEwen TigerScots 70-55 in an away
contest. Devin Greer’s sparkling performance net-
ted 19 points with Dylan Marr hot on his heels at
16. Timmy Wells aced 13 points and Cason Kirk-
land and Coy Aschenbrenner had 10 each.
Coach Larry Wells was impressed with the
teams performance. He noted that a number of
players scored in the double-digits, and the team
followed the game plan.
“We moved the ball really well, we were up
8-0 or 10-0 before Weston scored,” he said. “We
came out, broke the press moved the ball better
than we have all year. We had a great game.”
The boys just missed versus the Union Bob-
cats on the following night at home, losing a
close-fought 46-40 contest.
“We didn’t move the ball, and when we took
shots they weren’t the best shots,” Coach Wells
said. “On the other hand, we had great defense
and we kept their top scorer to 13 points. Cason
Kirkland did a fantastic job on defense with that.”
Coy Aschenbrenner led the squad with 10
points while Devin Greer shot eight through the
hoop and rising star Kirkland popped through
seven.
The boys now harbor a 3-6 league record and
are 9-11 overall. They next play Heppner at home
on Feb. 1.
MAN ON A MISSION — Enterprise Outlaws
player, Devin Greer, brings the ball upcourt
during the Outlaws’ 46-40 loss to the Union
Bobcats on Saturday, Jan. 26.
STOCK #10723 • 48,550 mi.
4WD, AC, PS, PW, PWR LOCKS
Fashioned Values
d
l
O Sales & Service
www.main-street-motors.com
sales@main-street-motors.com
311 West Main St. • Enterprise
$ 9,385
$ 21,766
$ 24,999
$ 29,685
541-426-2100