A8
SPORTS
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Outlaw girls tame Cougars in season opener
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The
Enterprise girls basketball
team built a large enough
lead in their Wednesday,
Dec. 1, opener against Wal-
lowa that the Outlaws went
deep into their bench early.
That allowed the Cou-
gars to close the gap before
Enterprise fi nished off a
38-30 win in the season
opener for both teams.
With the exception of the
fi rst minute, Enterprise was
in control basically from
start to fi nish. The Out-
laws used a 9-0 run midway
through the fi rst quarter to
take the lead for good, lim-
ited Wallowa to a single free
throw in the second quar-
ter en route to a 17-point
halftime lead, and led by as
many as 21 points in the sec-
ond half.
“I was happy with our
result,” Outlaws head coach
Mike Crawford said. “I
thought that we played well
in some major stretches and
not so well in others. But at
the same time, I had three
girls of my starters who
had minutes at the varsity
level prior to last night. And
everyone else is new. It’s a
process learning how to play
at that level. I thought we
did OK considering.”
The key was a solid
defensive eff ort that saw the
Outlaws force Wallowa into
36 turnovers, including 22
in the fi rst half. Jada Gray,
who led Enterprise with 10
points, was the head of the
Outlaws’ press all night,
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Enterprise’s Emily Love, left, tries to drive past Wallowa’s Sophie Moeller on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.
collecting fi ve steals and
defl ecting the ball on several
other occasions.
“I like to do a lot of one-
girl press, actually,” Craw-
ford said. “It is surprising
how often they turn it over”
with one player pressuring
them.
Enterprise, which led
13-6 after one following
a pair of Rilyn Kirkland
layups, pushed the lead to
10 on a Gray steal and layup
and a free throw from Maci
Marr. Marr later had her own
steal and layup and Kirkland
found Gray for a basket and
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa’s Libby Fisher, left, tries to drive past Enterprise’s
Maci Marr on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.
a 22-6 lead. That capped
a 13-0 run that started late
in the fi rst quarter, during
which time the Cougars
didn’t score for 10:35.
The lead reached 24-7 at
the half, and swelled to 21 in
the third when Emily Love
opened the quarter with a
3-pointer and Gray added
another free throw.
Wallowa started to chip
away in the fi nal 10:15,
and found a touch from the
3-point line. Libby Fish-
er’s trey late in the third
triggered a 7-0 run to make
30-17 after three.
“I saw some good things
in the second half,” Wallowa
head coach Greg Oveson
said. “We have a lot of work
to do. Hopefully in the next
two or three weeks we get
some stuff straightened out.”
Layups by Love and
Gray pushed the lead back to
17 early in the fourth before
the Cougars scored 13 of
the next 15 points to make it
interesting.
Sophie Moeller con-
nected on a 3-pointer with
just under fi ve minutes left to
start the run. Abby Straight
and Fisher both scored to
help trim the margin to 12.
Then Zoe Hermens, who
led the Cougars with nine
points, really made things
tight. She stepped into a
pullup 3-pointer to make it
36-27 with three minutes
left, then connected again —
after Moeller chased down
her own missed 3-pointer
and saved it in-bounds to
Hermens — to bring the
Cougars within 36-30 with
2:19 to play. However, they
got no closer.
“It got a little closer than I
wanted it to get, but we came
right back and bounced back
each time,” Crawford said.
In all, Wallowa con-
nected on fi ve 3-pointers, all
in the second half, with Her-
mens and Moeller both hit-
ting a pair of treys. Moeller
fi nished with eight points,
Fisher had seven, and Her-
mens also had 10 rebounds.
Gray was followed in the
Enterprise scoring column
by Kirkland, who had eight
points. Love chipped in with
seven and Marr added fi ve.
Enterprise sprints its way to victory in opener
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — It was
a positive start to the season
for the Enterprise boys bas-
ketball team.
Dylan Jennings scored
14 points to lead 10 Out-
laws who hit the scorebook,
Caden Fent added 12 points,
and Enterprise rolled from
the outset of their Wednes-
day, Dec. 1 opener against
Wallowa, scoring the game’s
fi rst 23 points en route to a
55-16 home victory.
Enterprise overwhelmed
a young Cougar squad with
its high-pace, frenetic style
of play, though it took a bit
for the Outlaws to settle in
as they scored just one fi eld
goal in the fi rst three min-
utes. Jennings, who had
eight fi rst-half points, broke
through with a jumper, and
shots fi nally started to fall.
Two baskets from Fent, a
putback by Jackson Decker
and another Jennings jumper
pushed the Enterprise lead to
15-0 after one.
“I’m crazy proud of how
hard my guys worked,”
Enterprise head coach Kyle
Crawford said. “They did
everything I asked. We
worked really hard condi-
tioning through the fi rst 2½
weeks.
“They never quit on me.
... That intensity is what I’m
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa’s Willie Gibbs tries to get past a pair of Enterprise
defenders Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Enterprise’s Lane Rouse puts up a shot while Wallowa’s Kaed Thorne applies pressure
Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.
hoping to bring throughout
the season.”
Wallowa, which started
three freshmen, fi nally
broke through with 3:39 to
play in the second half when
Kellen Knifong put back a
missed free throw, and he
scored again 38 seconds
later to make the score 23-4.
The lead was 27-4 at the
break after a late putback by
Chase Duncan.
“They never gave up.
They kept fi ghting,” Wallowa
head coach Deon Chandler
said. “Kellen stepped up big
time for me and played some
big minutes. The game’s a lot
faster than what they’re used
to. They learned the experi-
ence of a fast-paced game,
and learned how their season
is going to be with the fast-
paced game. They learned a
lot of good things.”
Both teams found a bit
of a rhythm in the second
half. Seven diff erent play-
ers scored in the third quarter
alone for the Outlaws, who
led by as many as 34 points
in the period when Fent col-
lected a steal and converted a
layup for a 40-6 lead. A mini-
fl urry by Wallowa to close
the third — including four
points in short order by Isaac
Barnum — set the score at
44-14 after three.
The teams traded points
in the fi rst 20 seconds of
the fourth before Enterprise
scored the fi nal 10 points to
salt away the win.
There were plusses and
minuses for the Outlaws.
Enterprise forced Wallowa
into 40 turnovers and col-
lected 29 steals, led by Spen-
cer Decker, who had seven.
The team, though, struggled
from the fl oor, shooting just
27% in the fi rst half and 30%
for the game.
Wallowa was led in scor-
ing by Knifong, who came
off the bench to score eight
points. He and teammate
Willie Gibbs also led the
Cougars on the boards with
seven rebounds each. The
Cougars shot 24% from the
fl oor.
In addition to the bal-
anced scoring — Jackson
Decker added seven points
and Gideon Gray had six
— the Outlaws had balance
on the boards, as Gray, Fent
and Trey Stewart each had
fi ve boards. On the night,
Enterprise held a 40-29
rebounding edge.
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