>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

PATTON CHARGE: Joseph senior Colby Patton takes the ball up the court during Saturday’s 60-52 win in the Class 1A state championship game against St. Paul. After scoring eight points in two days at the state championship, Patton scored a team-high 12 points in the title game. Observer photos/PAUL HARDER

No one could stop the Eagles.

Twenty-five teams tried during the regular season. Four more fell short in the playoffs.

In the end, Joseph walked away Class 1A state champions.

A 60-52 win against St. Paul made it official Saturday — a 29-0 season.

A sense of redemption, accomplishment and satisfaction burst forth after 928 minutes of basketball spanning three months.

Truth be told, it started well before the opening tip-off back on Nov. 30.

“These girls started the drive for this title last summer,” Eagles head coach Lance Homan said. “They took last year’s loss pretty hard.”

Days to spend vacationing during the summer were spent sprinting in a gym.

The goal — to hone their skills that left them short a season ago against St. Paul. A 54-40 loss didn’t sit well with the Joseph team.

“We weren’t going to lose again,” senior Megan Yost said. “I didn’t think we were going to lose last year. At first taking second didn’t seem so bad, but then it sunk in — that wasn’t our goal. It completely crushed everyone after we lost.”

This time the Eagles team put their goals down on paper, but didn’t meet the top one.

A game against Umatilla left them one game short.

The goal was to be 30-0 on March 2. One game against the Vikings was canceled due to weather.

A senior class of four completed the circle back from the undefeated days of junior high basketball.

The progress started slowly.

First a dismal season in 2005  in which the Eagles found themselves sitting at home during the postseason.

Then a third place finish followed a second-place finish.

“We went from dominating in junior high to a big shock,” senior Colby Patton said. “There were some amazing teams when we were freshman. It’s exciting to see the hard work pay off.”

Bouncing back

Redemption weaved a web throughout the championship game.

Take Colby Patton for instance.

The Joseph senior struggled through the first two games in Baker City against Nixyaawii and Lowell — 4-of-21 from the floor for eight points in 40 minutes of playing time.

Patton scored nine points in the first half against St. Paul, despite once again finding her way into foul trouble.

The 5-foot-6-inch guard picked up her third foul with 5:10 left in the second quarter.

Homan remembered the feeling of Patton’s 10-minute performance against Nixyaawii. But Patton walked just close enough to her coach to point at her head and offer encouraging words.

“I told him I was going to play smart,” Patton said. “There was no way to get me off the court. This was the final game of my high school career. A lot of people told me to stop thinking, and just go out and play.”

However, the fouls had a subtle silver lining.

St. Paul tried every angle to work the ball inside. Time and time again the Buckaroos attempted to get Brittani Brown the ball. The Eagles’ zone didn’t allow it to happen.

At times Brown had both hands on her head, knowing a pass wasn’t coming.

With all the effort focused inside, St. Paul stayed alive by hitting outside shots — 5-of-10 from behind the arc in the first.

“Give (St. Paul) credit,” Homan said. “They hit those shots with a hand in their face.”

Just like a season ago, the Eagles went into the locker room at the half with a lead.

PARKS POWER: Nicke Parks earned first-team all-tournament honors. She averaged 14 points per game at Baker.

Outside shots stopped falling for St. Paul.

“I had to keep working hard and moving my feet ... (Brittani) is a dang good,” Parks said. “Everyone was helping out in the paint.”

Brown did score 10 points in the second half.

However, the outside shots stopped falling. The Buckaroos shot 2-of-7 from behind the arc in the final two quarters.

Joseph kept plugging along after shooting 50 percent from the floor in the first half, and finished shooting the same mark for the game.

“We worked so hard this year because we wanted to be back here. We wanted to play St. Paul again in this game.”

In the third quarter, the often overlooked Shelby Harshman kept the Eagles moving forward.

The junior guard scored six of her 11 points in the second half, including a crucial second- chance basket in the third quarter.

“She’s good at that,” Homan said. (Shelby) is short but she gets in there among the taller players under the hoop. Teams don’t necesarily think about her all that much, but then she burns them for 10 or more points.”

St. Paul’s Julie Drescher trimmed the lead to 53-48 with a 3-point basket with 3:40 left in the game.

The Buckaroos junior left the game early and finished with 12 points.

A smart player made a major mistake during crunch time.

Drescher reached in while trying to follow her shot, and water welled in her eyes as the whistle blew.

With 2:25 left in the game, St. Pauls outside weapon went to the sideline.

“She’s a great player and makes a big impact for them,” Yost said. “We wanted her to play. But at the same time we weren’t upset she was out of the game.”

Smooth finish

Soon after the Eagles started playing keep away.

Tossing the ball around the outside and watching seconds vanish from the clock.

When the Buckaroos went into foul mode, Paige Bailey saw the bulls-eye fall on her.

A seemingly smart decision that Bailey made St. Paul pay for.

The Joseph guard went 2-of-9 from the free-throw line against Lowell in the state semifinal game Friday.

Bailey went the line six times in the final minute and a half Saturday.

Calmly, she knocked down five. The one she missed, she rebounded.

“I just though about bending my knees more,” Bailey said. “That’s it.”

Players on the bench stood up as the final seconds ticked away, before going airborne with arms high in the sky.

“We had a debt to fill. It’s the best feeling,” Yost said. “Ever since the title game last year we’ve had a mission. It’s been our motto all year not to settle, and we fulfilled our goal.”

Patton finsihed with a team-high 12 points.

Bailey earned player of the game honors with nine points, seven assists and five rebounds.

JOSEPH (60)

Harshman 5 1-4 11, Yost 5 1-2 11, Bailey 1 7-10 9, Patton 4 3-8 12, Parks 5 0-0 10, Moro 1 3-3 5, Staigle 1 0-0 2. Totals 0 0-0 0.

ST. PAUL (52)

Ju. Drescher 4 2-3 12, McKillip 5 4-6 18, Lewis 1 0-0 2, Brown 5 3-5 13, Wilson 2 1-2 6, Riggleman 0 1-2 1, Ja. Drescher 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 11-18 52.

Joseph    18    14    12    16  –  60

St. Paul    10    17    12    13  –  52

 3-point goals: Joseph, Patton; St. Paul, Ju. Drescher 2, McKillip 4, Wilson.