Super-sized Cougars clip Badgers

HANG TIME: The Badgers couldn’t hold home court Saturday against Wallowa. Powder Valley fell 71-58 in a battle of Old Oregon League unbeatens. PAUL HARDER/The Observer

Wallowa knocked off Powder Valley 71-58 to improve to 13-2 overall, and 8-0 in league play.

The Cougars boys basketball team changed its defense to shut down Trenton Dixon.

The Badger guard still managed to score 27 points. Dixon had seven in the first half with one field goal.

“We worked on the defense a little bit in the last game,” Wallowa head coach Warren Wilson said. “We wanted to try and slow Trenton down. The boys came out and did a great job of playing a great team game.

“It helped us jump out to the lead. We switched to a man-to-man later in the game, and they just chipped away at the lead.”

Still, Wallowa sandwiched Ronald Gladden, Mark Jamerson and Ian Parks in between two guards to frustrate Powder Valley.

The long reach in the middle caused turnovers and altered shots.

That led to a 25-14 advantage for the Cougars after one quarter.

The chipping process began late in the second quarter.

Back-to-back three pointers helped trim the lead to 36-24 before halftime.

Kandle opened the second half the same way he ended the first, with a 3-pointer to trim the lead to nine points.

Then Jake Johnson took over.

“We knew this was a big game,” Johnson said. “Playing in this gym is pretty tough. It feels like everyone is right on top of you.

“The goal was to prove we belong at the top of the league, and we did that.”

Johnson scored the next eight points for Wallowa to push the lead to 44-27.

That push took the game out of reach. Powder Valley pulled within 11 points in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get any closer.

Wallowa will host Imbler at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The Badgers will host Cove at 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, Wallowa took care of Joseph 74-35.

Johnson led the Cougars with 22 points.

The Eagles fell behind quickly, trailing 36-12 at the half.

Tyler Harshfield added 16 points.

Trevor Lewis led Joseph with 13 points. Ian Baynes added 10 points.

WALLOWA (71)

Harshfield 3 7-10 14, Jamerson 1 1-3 3, Waters 1 0-0 3, Gladden 7 4-6 18, Johnson 11 3-3 25, Chrisman 0 0-0 0, Conrad 0 0-0 0, McDaniel 1 0-0 2, Evans 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 15-22 71.

POWDER VALLEY (58)

Dixon 9 5-8 27, G. Kandle 4 0-0 11, W. Kandle 2 0-0 5, Allen 2 0-0 4, Colton 2 0-0 4, Akers 2 0-0 4, Benites 1 0-2 3. Totals 22 5-10 58.

Wallowa    25    11    18    17  –  71

Powder Valley    14    10    13    21  –  58

    3-point goals: Wallowa, Harshfield, Waters; PV, Dixon 4, G. Kandle 3, W. Kandle.

JOSEPH (35)

Watson 1 0-0 3, Lewis 5 0-0 13, Baynes 5 0-0 10, Doud 0 0-0 0, Staidle 0 0-0 0, Smallen 1 0-0 2, Staigle 1 2-3 5, Shadle 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 2-4 35.

WALLOWA (74)

Harshfield 5 5-6 16, Jamerson 2 2-2 6, Waters 2 0-0 5, Gladden 4 1-2 9, Parks 5 0-0 10, Johnson 10 0-0 22, Chrisman 10-0 2, McDaniel 1 1-2 4. Totals 30 9-17 74.

Joseph    2    10    9    14  –  35

Wallowa    15    21    20    18  –  74

    3-point goals: Joseph, Watson, Lewis 3, Staigle; Wallowa, Harshfield, Waters, Johnson 2.

IMBLER — The Panthers missed out on a clean sweep by letting a game slip away against Cove 42-40.

Jordan Brown tapped in a rebound with less than a second on the clock to lead the Leopards to the win.

The Panthers led the whole way until Jered Witty tied the game with 40 seconds in the fourth quarter.

Witty finished with a game-high 22 points.

Zach Phillips and Dalton McDaniel led the Panthers with 15 and 12 points, respectively.

Imbler didn’t take any time pulling away from Joseph to salvage the weekend.

The Panthers won 50-28.

Phillips paced Imbler with 17 points.

Ian Baynes led Joseph with eight points.

Imbler will host Griswold at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Cove will travel to Powder Valley for a 7:30 p.m. game Friday.

Joseph will travel to Imbler Friday for a 7:30 p.m. game.

COVE (42)

Witty 9 2-2 22, DelCurto 3 1-2 8, Brown 3 1-2 8, Iturbide 1 0-0 2, Reddington 0 2-2 2, Moore 0 0-0 0, B. Batty 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 6-8 42.

IMBLER (40)

Phillips 7 1-1 15, J. McLean 1 0-0 2, D. McDaniel 5 2-2 12, Fullerton 0 1-6 1, I. McLean 0 0-0 0, Bigej 0 0-0 0, Mesterheide 4 1-2 10. Totals 17 5-11 40.

Cove    9    11    8    14  –  42

Imbler    9    11    10    10  –  40

    3-point goals: Cove, Witty 2, DelCurto, Brown; Imbler, Mesterheide.

JOSEPH (28)

Baynes 4 0-0 8, Lewis 2 2-4 7, Doud 2 2-4 6, Watson 2 0-0 4, Staidle 1 0-0 2, Shadle 0 1-2 1, Martin 0 0-0 0, Staigle 0 0-0 0, Smallen 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 5-10 28.

IMBLER (50)

Phillips 8 1-3 17, McLean 5 0-6 11, McDaniel 5 0-0 10, Fullerton 3 1-2 8, I. McLean 2 0-0 4, Bigej 0 0-0 0, Mesterheide 0 0-0 0, Arnzen 0 0-0 0, Kretschmer 0 0-0 0, Shaffer 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 2-11 50.

Joseph    9    4    5    10  –  28

Imbler    11    13    17    9  –  50

    3-point goals: Joseph, Lewis; Imbler, Fullerton, J. McLean.

COVE — The Leopards closed out the weekend with a 66-36 win against Pine Eagle.

Scott DelCurto led Cove with 14 points.

Jered Witty and Jordan Brown each finished with 13 points.

Alex Stiles led Pine Eagle with 11 points.

PINE EAGLE (36)

Clausen 1 0-0 2, Dean 1 1-2 3, Traw 3 0-0 8, Walker 0 1-2 1, Stiles 4 1-8 9, Watson 4 3-7 11, Swan 0 2-2 2. Totals 13 8-21 36.

COVE (66)

Witty 6 1-2 13, DelCurto 6 1-1 14, Brown 5 0-0 13, Iturbide 1 0-0 2, Reddington 2 0-0 4, Moore 1 0-0 2, B. Batty 0 1-2 1, Allen 2 2-4 6, Batty 0 2-2 2, Gilstrap 0 1-2 1, Doren 0 0-2 0, McGowan 1 2-2 4. Totals 26 10-20 66.

Cove    11    10    6    9  –  36

Imbler    22    25    8    11  –  66

    3-point goals: Cove, Witty 2, DelCurto, Brown; Imbler, Mesterheide.