SPORTS
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
B9
Joseph basketball: Boys, girls are on the highway to state after district success
Continued from Page B2
Fulfer expressed pride
in his team for their perfor-
mance under pressure:
“To come back from
being down seven in the
fourth quarter and to bat-
tle back like they did shows
a lot of heart,” Fulfer said.
“I’m really proud of those
kids.”
After Thursday’s rough
and tumble win over Imbler,
the boys played league nem-
esis Powder Valley on Fri-
day night. Despite the bruis-
ing game the night before,
the Eagle boys showed what
they’re made of when firing
on all eight cylinders, cruis-
ing to a 58-39 in on what
was essentially the Badgers’
home court. At one point,
the Eagles led by 22.
Senior Tyler Homan had
his best game of the year,
leading the sharpshoot-
ing with 18 points, going
6 for 9 from the field, 4 of
4 from the free throw line
while committing four
thefts. Sophomore Chase
Murray, back after a stretch
of illness, scored 14 points,
going 4 for 4 from beyond
the paint. Mason Ferre, Had-
ley Miller and Kade Kil-
gore each pushed six points
through the ring.
The victory was satisfy-
ing for coach Fulfer.
“Powder’s a really good
team and ranked,” he said.
“We played our best game
of the season at the perfect
time to secure ourselves a
home playoff game, which
is awesome.”
The following game saw
a real battle with Nixy-
waaii with both teams trad-
ing three to four point leads
before the Eagles stumbled
midway in the fourth quar-
ter, finally succumbing,
54-42, playing on their third
consecutive night. Coach
Fulfer said that the Golden
Eagles are the toughest team
they’ve faced all season.
“We played well, play-
ing our game plan, but we
stopped getting rebounds,
and they hit a couple of big
threes as well,” Fulfer said.
“Our kids were just gassed
(exhausted) after the tough
battle with Imbler and with
Powder Valley. They played
their hearts out the whole
weekend.”
Ferre and Murray led
the offense, each knock-
ing 12 points through the
hoop. Hadley Miller nailed
six while Homan and Trey
Wandschneider knocked in
five each.
“Even though we lost
against Nixy, there’s noth-
ing to be sad about in that
game,” Fulfer said. “They
did everything they could
to win, and it didn’t fall for
them. I’m really proud of
them. We’re peaking at this
point in time, and it’s pretty
amazing.”
Districts allowed the
boys to secure second place
in the league as well as a
state championship opening
home game against Dufur
on Tuesday, Feb. 19.
As an added bonus for the
weekend, both Homan and
Mason Ferre received first-
team Old Oregon League
honors. Chase Murray
scored an Honorable Men-
tion nod.
The ladies had an easy go
of it in the first game on Fri-
day night, romping all over
Cove Leopards, 51-20. The
Eagles got on top of things
right with energy and focus
from the start.
The Eagles press proved
very effective and high
energy spread through all
the players.
“It was a great game for
us to open up the district
tournament,” Coach Lance
Homan said. “We were able
to play everyone and rest our
starters some.”
Saturday proved less than
savory as the Eagles ran into
a brick wall against the Bad-
gers after the first quarter.
Unfortunately, foul trouble
and Powder’s game plan had
other ideas, and the Eagles
fluttered to the ground.
“Powder really came
Ellen Morris Bishop
Joseph Eagles take on Power Valley.
to play and we just didn’t
have any answers for them,”
Homan said. “We took more
shots and had less turnovers,
but we shot 29 percent to
their 38 percent.”
Homan credited Pow-
der’s defense and coach-
ing with holding back the
Eagles’ wave.
“Now it is on to the next
step in the journey,” Homan
said.
The girls next play
at home versus Ione on
Wednesday, Feb. 20, in
Ed Staub & Sons
Energy Community Service.
the first round of the state
championships.
On the bright side, the
girls placed three players
on the first-team Old Ore-
gon League squad. Sabrina
Albee made the squad
while she also served as the
league’s unanimous selec-
tion for player of the year.
Madelyn Nelson and Emma
Hite also received the honor
while Haley Miller received
second-team
honors.
Camille Crenshaw received
an honorable mention.
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