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WEDNESDAY
December 18, 2019
Enterprise Outlaws climb state rankings
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
T
Photos by Ellen Morris Bishop
Pine Eagle’s Caleb Thompson sets up to strip the ball from Enterprise’s Flynn Nave early in the game.
LEFT: In the last seconds of the game, Pine Eagle’s Ethan Brown tries for just one more shot. Enterprise’s Gideon Gray guards. RIGHT:
Wallowa’s Tristin Bales takes his steal to the basket, while Enterprise’s Flynn Nave trails behind him.
Joseph charter School girls are
undefeated, ranked #2 in state
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Joseph Charter School Eagles’ girls
basketball squad remains undefeated after a
three-day tournament stint in Powder Valley
over the weekend Dec. 12-14.
The ladies fi rst skewered Adrian on
Thursday, Dec, 12, with a convincing 51-32
win. Coach Lance Homan called the game a
hard fought battle in which the ladies exhib-
ited playing lapses.
“A lot of that falls on me as I didn’t bring
the energy I needed to in order to do my
part for the team,” he said. “I was proud of
how they stuck together and came out with
a win.”
Super Sabrina Albee carried the torch
while scoring 26 points, raking in 10
rebounds and snatching six steals. Fresh-
man phenom Molly Curry scored nine while
hauling in seven boards. Senior Camille
See Joseph girls, Page B2
he Enterprise Outlaws boys
brought along their six-shoot-
ers to the home basketball court
for the weekend, sending both Wal-
lowa and Pine Eagle to Boot Hill. The
win over the Wallowa Cougars on Fri-
day, Dec. 13, was special because the
Outlaws had fallen to the Cougs 38-35
about a week before.
The Outlaws came loaded for bear
in their 60-36 victory, outscoring the
Cougs 11-1 in the fi rst quarter and 22-5
in the third quarter for the victory. The
Cougars, who had played a tough game
the previous night, looked tired at
times, although they caught fi re enough
to keep the Outlaws on their toes.
At one point, the Cougars got to
within eight late in the fi rst half, but
a locker room talk between Crawford
and the team set the team to righting
its course.
Cason Kirkland led the Outlaws in
points, knocking 16 through the hoop
while Devin Greer added eight. Fos-
ter Hobbs and Flynn Nave each added
seven for the win. Defensively, David
Salim took home eight boards while
Kirkland and Greer each had seven.
“We played better as a team and
moved the ball really well,” Coach
Kyle Crawford said. “We stuck to our
game plan and ended up with fewer
turnovers.”
For the Cougs, Tristin Bales put
in an inspired performance with 28
points, one of the few bright spots for
his squad.
Both teams played a physical game
and until sometime in the second quar-
ter, the teams had more combined fouls
than points. With a number of players
in foul trouble early, Wallowa had to
resort to playing a 2-3 zone defense,
which hurt their ability to defend their
goal.
Frustrated with calls, coach Cody
Lathrop received a technical after argu-
ing a foul call, something he was not
proud of.
“I need to do a better job of setting
an example for my team,” he said.
The Pine Eagle Spartans met a sim-
ilar fate on Saturday, falling 75-50 in
a shootout with the Outlaws, behind a
29-point blaze by Greer.
In addition to Greer’s 29 points,
Kirkland knocked in 14, going 4 of 6
from behind the paint and dished out
a dozen assists. Foster Hobbs chipped
in with nine. Defensive stats include
Kirkland’s team-leading nine boards
while Greer added four steals to the
effort.
Crawford said that despite the score,
he didn’t feel as though the game was
in hand until midway through the
fourth quarter.
“I thought that at any minute, they
could light it up and start scoring
against us,” he said. They were a tough
opponent.”
The Outlaws don’t play again until
Friday, Dec. 27 at Nixyaawii for that
school’s tournament. The Cougs play
at home versus the La Grande junior
varsity today, Wednesday, Dec. 18 at
7 p.m.
Joseph Eagle boys earn a 6th place in Oregon’s
1A division with tough tournament play
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
The male cagers of the Joseph Eagles
won two of three games at Powder Valley’s
three-day tournament. The Eagles’ sole loss
came to the 2A powerhouse Union Bobcats
on hard luck Friday the 13th. The Eagles
are ranked 6th in the state’s preseason 1A
rankings.
Joseph started out Thursday, Dec. 12 with
a convincing 63-52 win over Adrian.
“We could have scored more, but I played
the bench and put all 12 varsity players in
the game,” Coach Olan Fulfer said.
Superman-come-lately, Chase Murray,
led the squad with 24 points. Fulfer said the
Joseph Eagles junior played an aggressive
game, the kind he likes to see from Mur-
ray. Hadley Miller followed with 13, Car-
son “The Glue” Littlepage zipped in 12, and
Mason Ferre‘ nailed 11.
Fulfer also noted the defensive play of
Hayden Hite and Malichi Roberts. The
See Joseph boys, Page B2
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