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

SLIPPERY AS SOAP: Cove’s Savannah Schafer loses the handle on a pass during a 51-44 win against Pine Eagle Thursday. - The Observer/BRUCE MASON

Leopards tugged. Spartans tugged back. Then the Leopards tugged again, and finally, that twine slipped through the Spartans’ sweaty palms, and there was Cove, standing on top.

That was the case Thursday night at Baker High, as the No. 3 Cove girls basketball team defeated No. 6 Pine Eagle, 51-44.

The Leopards’ Beth Yergen scored 12 points, Katy Puckett 10, Shalee Kimball and Tally nine, Mariah Murchison eight.

With the win, the Leopards will face No. 2 Imbler tonight at 8:15 p.m.

“It was really good to get that first win here,” Murchison said.

“We all just came together and clicked tonight. Everybody contributed.”

It was a far cry from the last meeting between these teams — which was a 31-22 loss for Cove.

On this night, the Leopards picked up the intensity, fought for loose balls, created turnovers, and — frankly — out-hustled their opponent.

Heart of a Lion?

Let’s call it heart of a Leopard.

“Every time (Pine Eagle) got close,” Cove coach Jason Gorham said, “the girls dug their heels in and got a stop when they had to.”

Especially McKenzie Tally.

One day after being sick with the flu, Tally came out and led the way defensively for Cove, finishing with five steals.

And that’s been the story this season for the Leopards: battling injuries, battling illness, and on this night, finding a way to tug and fight through the pain.

The win guarantees the right for Cove to play in the third-place game Saturday. A win in that game would earn a birth into the state tournament.

“This is one more step in the right direction,” Gorham said.

“We’ve got two more games to go.

“Hopefully things will go our way.”

COVE (51)

Puckett 4 2-2 10, Murchison 3 2-4 8, Tally 4 1-3 9, Schafer 1 1-2 3, Kimball 3 3-4 9, B.Yergen 5 2-5 12, Nostrant 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 11-20 51.

PINE EAGLE (44)

Millhouse 4 0-0 6, Thatcher 4 0-0 7, A.Gulick 3 0-0 6, Holmstead 2 2-4 6, Marks 8 2-3 17, K.Gulick 0 0-0 0, Bloom 1 0-0 2, Gotzman 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 4-7 44.

Cove               13 11 12 15 – 51

Pine Eagle            4 18  8 14 – 44

3-point goals: Cove, none; Pine Eagle, Millhouse 2, Thatcher, Marks.

Eagles pull out surprises in victory

BAKER — The Eagles have been itching for weeks.

Then the district tournament came, and finally, here was that nice, relieving scratch.

Ahh. How nice.

Joseph boys basketball team defeated Cove, 71-45 in the District 7-1A opener Thursday Night at Baker High.

The Eagles disrupted the Cove offense early, thanks to their man-to-man pressure. They’ve been working on it for a while but ..

“We didn’t want to show it to anybody until the district tournament,” Joseph coach Larry Nall said.

“We were itching to go a little early with it, but we held off.”

Will it be featured again tonight against No. 2 Powder Valley tonight at 6:30?

“Whether we do that against Powder, we’re not saying,” Nall said. “We may have been working on something for two weeks against Powder.”

Wait and see.

As for Cove, the season ends with this loss. 

But coach Todd Gorham said the team leaped the first hurdle with this rebuilding program.

He doesn’t measure the Leopards’ success by their wins and losses, rather by their competitiveness.

“We’ve had to build from pretty much scratch,” Gorham said.

“I told the seniors, I said, ‘I’m sorry that’s not a lot of consolation, but whatever this program does from here on out, you guys need to feel a part of that, because you were part of the foundation that we built.”

So tonight marks the third meeting between Joseph and Powder Valley.

In their last meeting, the Eagles defeated the Badgers, which makes tonight an interesting affair. 

“I think we’re back to good basketball,” said the Eagles’ Corby Makin, who scored 22 points. 

“Going into playing North Powder, you’ve got to have confidence.

“If we keep our heads, (if) we play our game, we’ll come out with the win.”

JOSEPH (71)

Harshman 5 0-0 8, Shetler 3 1-1 7, Makin 8 7-9 22, Patton 3 0-0 6, Hurley 4 0-0 8, Garrett 0 0-0 0, Watson 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0-0 0, Lathrop 2 0-0 4, Touray 1 2-3 4, Steen 3 0-0 6, Baynes 3 0-0 6. Totals 29 10-15 71.

COVE (45)

DelCurto 1 0-0 2, Ross 3 2-2 7, Hamilton 3 2-5 8, Witty 7 6-7 18, Brainerd 2 2-2 6, Iturbide 0 2-2 2, Gugin 0 0-0 0, Reddington 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 1-2 1, Pagliarulo 0 0-0 0, Moore 0 0-0 0, Osterberg 0 1-2 1, Holland 0 0-0 0.  Totals 13 16-22 45.

Joseph          12 26 21 12 – 71

Cove             10 11 15  9 – 45

3-point goals: Joseph, Harshman 2, Makin; Cove, Witty 2, Ross.

Cougars’ long range attack sinks Spartans

BAKER — A steady hail of shots fell inside the Baker High School gym during warm-ups.

Those shots continued to fall for Wallowa during a 56-43 win against Pine Eagle in the opening round of the District 7-1A opener Thursday.

The Spartans resembled a slight drizzle until a brief downpour came down when trailing 25-11.

Pine Eagle went on a 14-6 run, cutting the Cougars lead to six points.

Sophomore Tyler Harshfield said it was tough to watch.

“We were sitting on the bench,” Harshfield said. “They put up a good run on our bench. Thankfully we got back in before it was too late.”

Andrew Wilson restored order with consecutive 3-points shots.

Wilson’s second shot pushed the lead back to 12 points, 41-29.

With the win, Wallowa will face Imbler at 12:30 p.m. today.

Harshfield and Wilson paced the Cougars with 16 points apiece.

Senior Brandon Mahon finished with 13 points.

PINE EAGLE (43)

Totals 17 4-10 43.

WALLOWA (56)

Wilson 4 5-6 16, Harshfield 5 6-8 16, Jamerson 0 2-6 2, Mahon 3 5-6 13, Shelton 2 1-2 6, Gladden 1 1-2 3. Totals 15 20-30 56.