A9
WEDNESDAY
January 15, 2020
EAGLES MEN TAKE TO THE HEIGHTS
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
T
he Griswold Griz-
zlies made the
snowy journey to
Joseph for a Fri-
day, Jan. 10 battle
only to find the Eagles loaded
for bear. In one of the most
lopsided wins of the year, the
Eagles tanned the Grizzlies’
hide, 88-29.
Joseph’s Mason Ferre‘con-
tributed the first hoop and the
Eagles never let up. They led
30-6 at the end of the first
quarter. Coach Olan Fulfer
did plenty of substituting and
even direction for the Eagles
to let up, but nothing much
helped the onslaught.
The entire bench got plenty
of quality playing time. After
the half, the Grizzlies’ defense
seemed shell-shocked, unable
to respond even to freshmen
players on the floor, who also
seemingly scored at will.
Fulfer said he was sur-
prised at the score, because
Griswold usually plays tough
defense. He also noted his
own team played stingy D on
the evening, even when told to
stand down off the zone. They
never ran a press, either.
“I wanted us on work on
straight-up man defense,” he
said. “I made sure to tell my
team not one time do I want
them guarding full court. We
backed our defense way up.”
The coach followed the
same ethic on offense: Don’t
shoot any threes.
Ferre‘carried the scoring
torch with 24 points including
going 4 of six from beyond the
paint and playing just over a
half game. Carson Littlepage
pitched in with 20 and prob-
ably forced nearly that many
Grizzly turnovers.
Chase Murray scored 13
Steve Tool
To the hoop and beyond — Joseph Eagles marvel, Mason Ferre’, goes up for two of his 24 points during the Eagles’ 88-29 skinning of the
Griswold Grizzlies on Friday, Jan. 10.
playing less than half the
game while shoveling out a
few assists and playing excel-
lent ball on the boards.
After the game, Murray
said that the team is the best
he’s seen it.
“We did our job,” he said.
“Our chemistry is better than
it’s been in years. Our connec-
tion between the players and
the friendships we’ve built
between ourselves, the coach
and the community make this
super fun and super easy.”
Unselfish playing is one of
the keys to the Eagles’ suc-
cess, Fulfer said. He also said
when players are looking for
Outlaws wrestlers
get bang out of
Orofi no tournament
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Outlaws grapplers are gaining valu-
able experience at tournaments with numer-
ous and larger schools. Despite inclement
weather, the team traveled to Orofi no, Idaho,
to compete with teams such as Clarkston,
Wash., and large Idaho squads such as those
from Lewiston and Moscow schools on Jan.
10 and 11.
At 132 pounds, Cody Fent found him-
self in probably the toughest bracket of all,
with 16 wrestlers, all top-quality. He won
one match by fall over Cohen Keener, of
Lewiston.
As per usual, Trace Evans brought home
the gold in the 138 pounds bracket winning
two of three matches by fall and the other by
major decision, 12-3.
Drew Widener, at 285 pounds, continued
his ascent in the ranks, wrestling to a fi fth
place fi nish, winning two of four matches,
both by fall.
His coach, Cody Fent, said Widener is
improving by leaps and bounds.
“He’s come a long way from the start of
the year,” Fent said. “He has been able to
move really well out on the mat. I’ve been
very pleased with his progress.”
He added that Hunter Harvey and Char-
lie Evans both gained practical experience
in the 152 pounds and 170 pounds weight
classes.
Coach Fent was pleased with the squad’s
performance although it was a tough meet
all the way around.
The Outlaws next travel to Parma, Idaho,
for the Padilla Invitational on Jan. 17 and 18.
the open man and good looks
at the basket, you can get
by without even running an
offense.
“Every shot was open and
we worked pretty hard to get
to the open person,” he said.
“People were pretty unselfish
and that was pretty cool for
me to see.”
Fulfer said the team is play-
ing smart basketball, exactly
what he likes.
“We’re not throwing the
ball away or taking horrible
shots,” Fulfer said. “What
we’re trying to do is value
every single possession. Every
single one is meaningful.”
Steve Tool
The drive — Joseph Eagles player, Juston Rogers, drives to the hoop
for two during the Eagles’ lopsided 88-29 win over Griswold at home
on Jan. 10.
Yanke wins Wallowa County, District Elks Hoop Shoot
Tessa Duncan leads
the girls with 14/25
By Randy Morgan
For the Wallowa County
Chieftain
Brandon Yanke of Enter-
prise hit 19 out of 25 free
throws in the 8- and 9-year-
old boy category, to claim the
2019-2020 Wallowa County
Hoop Shoot Championship. He
narrowly beat Malcolm Albee
of Joseph, who competed in the
10- and 11-year-old boy cate-
gory, netting 15 out of 25 free
throws.
The Enterprise Elks held
their annual County Hoop
Shoot on Thursday, Dec. 12
in Enterprise, to determine
who would represent Wallowa
County at the Elks Northeast
District Hoop Shoot Champi-
onship in Hermiston, on Sun-
day, Jan. 5.
Also
representing
the
county in Hermiston were 8-
and 9-year-old girls champ
Heidi Follett, of Enterprise;
10- 11-year-old girls champ
Owyhee Harguess; 12- 13-year-
old boys champ Jaxon Grover,
of Joseph; and 12- 13-year-old-
girls champ Tessa Duncan, of
Enterprise.
Also competing at the
County Hoop Shoot were; 8-
9-year-olds Caleb Beachy,
of Joseph; Riley Myers, of
Joseph; and Teagan Tillery,
Chad Stangel, submitted
Elks Hoop Shoot Champs: Left to right, Jaxon Grover, Malcolm Albee, Brandon Yanke, Heidi Follett,
Owyhee Harguess, Tessa Duncan
of Wallowa; 10- 11-year-olds
Ashley Myers, of Joseph; Kar-
lee Wentz, of Wallowa; Marcus
Power, of Wallowa; and Apollo
Pollard, of Enterprise. Addi-
tional 12- 13-year-olds were
Iris DeLury, of Joseph; Emilie
McDaniel, of Wallowa; Gunnar
McDowell, of Enterprise; and
Kellan Knifong, of Wallowa.
At the district Hoop Shoot in
Hermiston, Brandon Yanke tied
for fi rst, losing in a shoot off,
ending up second. Tessa Dun-
can placed second, winning in
a shoot-off, and Heidi Follett
placed third.
The Elks have been put-
ting on hoop shoots since the
late 1940s, when Frank Hise,
of Corvallis, instituted the con-
test, eventually turning it into
a national competition. Every
year, thousands of young
hoopsters compete locally up
through the national level to
earn the honor of shooting in
the Elks Grand Lodge Hoop
Shoot Championship in Spring-
fi eld, Mass.
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