Wednesday, February 2, 2022
A9
SPORTS
Cougar girls shake off slow start to top Imbler
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA — For about 12
minutes Friday, Jan. 28, nothing
was falling for either the Wallowa
or Imbler girls basketball teams.
They endured the offensive
struggle through a six-point first
quarter — one that saw Imbler lead
4-2 — and the Cougars held just
a scant 7-6 lead with 4 minutes to
play in the half.
Then the Wallowa press kicked
in, set up some easy baskets and
in less than a minute turned the
game. The 8-0 run pushed the Cou-
gars into control and triggered their
offense on the way to a 41-27 home
win in Old Oregon League action.
“I was really happy with the
way we pressed,” head coach Greg
Oveson said. “We created a lot of
turnovers on it.”
The combination of Zoe Her-
mens — who scored a game-high
17 points — and Sophie Moeller
at the top of the press changed the
game. Moeller snagged a steal,
and Hermens put back the missed
layup for a 9-6 lead with 3:50 to
go in the half. On the next posses-
sion, Moeller again grabbed a steal
and this time converted the basket.
Hermens followed with a steal of
her own, and followed with a pass
to Haley Brockamp for a jumper.
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa’s Zoe Hermens drives for a layup during the fourth quarter of an Old Oregon League game Friday, Jan.
28, 2022.
Then Abby Straight got in the
action with a steal, getting the ball
to Hermens who found Moeller for
another layup and a 15-6 lead with
2:57 to go in the half.
“We made a little adjustment
to our press, and it was huge,”
Oveson said. “We started getting
some steals, they started throwing it
away, that was the difference right
there.”
Hermens later hit a stepback
3-pointer just before the break for
an 18-8 lead.
The sudden offensive surge
spilled into the third, with Hermens
hitting a pair of 3-pointers and scor-
ing eight in the quarter. Yet every
Imbler’s fast start too much for Wallowa boys
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA — Imbler started
fast and put Wallowa in a quick
hole the Cougars were unable to
dig out of.
The Panthers scored the game’s
first 11 points and built a 15-point
lead by the end of the first quarter
that would get no smaller en route
to a 52-24 win over the Cougars
in Old Oregon League play Fri-
day, Jan. 28, in Wallowa.
Justin Frost, who had a game-
high 13 points, scored seven of
the first nine points as Imbler
needed barely more than five min-
utes to take a double digit lead. A
Kellen Knifong jumper with 2:24
to play in the opening quarter got
Wallowa into the scorebook, but
the Panthers scored the final six
points to take a 17-2 lead after
one. Imbler shot 67% in the first
while limiting Wallowa to 20%
and forcing nine turnovers.
“Our offense, we run our
offense, but we’re not shooting
the ball,” head coach Deon Chan-
dler said. “We gotta shoot the ball
more. If we don’t put up at least
10 shots a quarter, it’s a long night
for us.”
The margin continued to grow
the rest of the evening, as Imbler
outscored Wallowa in all but the
fourth quarter. The Panthers were
up 27-6 at the half and led by as
many as 33 points.
Wallowa did find a rhythm in
the second half, with Isaac Bar-
num a big part of the improve-
ment. Barnum led Wallowa
with seven points, and scored
all of them after the break. He
had a short field goal and a put-
back in the third and another
basket in close in the fourth. He
also collected a team-high seven
rebounds.
“Isaac was big in the second
half,” Chandler said. “Kellen
picked it up a little bit (as well).”
Gabe Nobles and Willie
Gibbs both added four points for
Wallowa.
Chandler noted he has seen
several areas of improvement
from his team on both sides of the
ball this season, and said the team
attempt by Wallowa to put the game
out of reach was replied by Imbler,
and despite leading by as much as
13, the Cougars took just a 30-22
lead into the fourth after Imbler’s
Jayda Cant scored on a putback.
The Cougars finally did put the
game out of reach with the first six
points of the quarter, the last on a
field goal by Straight with 4:40 to
play for a 36-22 advantage. Imbler
pulled no closer than 10 the rest of
the way.
Hermens, who finished with
three 3s on the night, said the press
did help the Cougars get going after
the rough start.
“We started out really slow, but
then we always start better once we
get our press really tight, and we
had a little run there and scored …
quite a few,” she said. “That really
helped us out.”
Hermens was the lone Wal-
lowa player in double figures, but
was aided in the scoring column by
Brockamp and Straight, who each
had seven points. Moeller added six
points.
Joelle Treat had 14 points to lead
Imbler.
The Cougars (11-6 overall, 5-2
OOL) hosted Powder Valley on
Feb. 1, Nixyaawii on Feb. 4 and
Griswold on Feb. 5.
See Girls, Page A15
WRESTLING
Joseph gets
two first-place
finishes in
Irrigon tourney
Chieftain staff
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa’s Willie Gibbs (15) drives to the basket during the fourth quarter of an Old Oregon League game
Friday, Jan. 28, 2022.
is “getting there.”
“They’re coming together as a
family more, they’re trying to fig-
ure out what each other’s role is.
That’s a big thing, now they know
who does what, and who doesn’t
do what,” he said.
The Cougars (4-13 overall, 2-5
OOL) hosted Powder Valley on
Feb. 1, Nixyaawii on Feb. 4 and
Griswold on Feb. 5.
Jan. 29
Joseph 63, Cove 34: Joseph
turned in maybe its most impres-
sive win of the season at home
Saturday, Jan. 29.
Behind 18 points for James
Burney and 13 points from
Hayden Hite, the Eagles ran over
Cove at home in Old Oregon
League play, 63-34, to stay in the
upper half of the league.
Hite scored 11 of his points in
the first half as the Eagles bolted
out to a 16-7 first-quarter lead
and a 33-16 margin at the break.
Burney got rolling in the second
half, with 12 of his points and half
of his four 3-pointers the game
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa’s Kellen Knifong puts up a
jumper for the Cougars’ first points
during the first quarter of an Old
Oregon League game Friday, Jan.
28, 2022.
turned into a rout.
In all, nine players scored for
Joseph in the easy win. Joining
Burney and Hite was both Chase
Homan and Blade Suto with
seven points, and Reece Nelson
scored six points.
The Eagles (6-7 overall, 4-1
OOL) visit Imbler on Feb. 2, Gris-
wold on Feb. 3 and Nixyaawii on
Feb. 5.
Union 48, Enterprise 20:
Enterprise was able to shake off
an early double digit deficit and
get back in its previous matchup
with Union.
The Outlaws had no such luck
in the rematch Saturday, Jan. 29,
seeing a 10-point first-quarter
deficit swell on the way to a 48-20
setback in Union for their lowest
offensive output of the year.
Union had a 13-3 lead through
one and added on, netting 18 more
points in the second to take a 31-9
lead into the locker room. Chase
Koshinsky scored 19 points to
lead Union, one fewer than the
whole Enterprise team.
Jackson Decker scored five
points to lead the Outlaws.
See Boys, Page A10
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IRRIGON — The Joseph wres-
tling team claimed two victories
and a second-place finish at the Irri-
gon JV Tournament on Saturday,
Jan. 29, in Irrigon.
Gavin Russell claimed three
wins at the 152-pound B ranks, pin-
ning Wyatt Koch of McLoughlin
and Xander Olman of Irrigon, and
claiming a third win by forfeit.
Dylan Rogers went 2-0 at
126, pinning Cashton Wheeler of
Grant Union and Aiden Murillo of
Riverside.
And Jayden McNall went 1-1 at
120 for second, dropping a match
by fall to Mateo Rockwell of Riv-
erside and pinning Riverside’s Axel
Paredes-Rosales.
Gunnar McDowell took third
place and was one of two Enter-
prise wrestlers to gain a victory at
the Caldwell, Idaho, JV Tourna-
ment on Saturday, Jan. 29.
McDowell went 2-1 at 220
pounds. He needed just 26 seconds
to pin Allen Current of Homedale,
Idaho, in the quarterfinals, was
pinned in the semifinals by Sky-
view’s Philly Vasi, then took the
third-place match against Chance
Patterson of Owyhee, Idaho, by fall.
Cody Fent shook off an early
loss to go 3-1 and take third at 170.
He was pinned in the first round by
Lincoln Lovitt of Nyssa, then after
a bye pinned Gunnar Graves of
Owyhee, topped Nyssa’s Orlando
Perfecto by a 9-4 decision, and fin-
ished with a pin of Boise, Idaho’s,
Joaquin Peterson.
Pearce Schnetzky (138), Will
Ogden (195), Trey Charlton (285)
and Gabby Delapena (girls 120) all
went 0-2 on the day.
Both teams are next at the Bank
of Eastern Oregon Invitational Feb.
5 in Heppner. Individually, Dela-
pena will be at the girls regional
tournament in Redmond Feb. 5.