<I>Blair J. Parker/Chieftain</I><BR>Brooke Moncrief looks to feed the post with one of her three assists in Joseph's 54-36 win over Adrian on Thursday. The Eagles improved to 3-0 in the Old Oregon League with the victory.

The second to the last sports event of 2005 for Joseph High School’s girls basketball turned out to be a great New Years’ gift as the Eagles handed Adrian its second Old Oregon League loss 54-36 on Thursday in Joseph.

Senior guard Brooke Moncrief got the Eagles off to a scorching start, as she scored the game’s first five points.

In the second quarter, Jo-Hi picked up it defensive intensity when freshman Nicke Parks checked into the game. She quickly made her presence known, swatting away three shots in the quarter. Once Parks checked in, Adrian became a lot more reluctant to enter the paint and began settling for a lot of outside jumpers.

“Brooke, Colby (Patton) and Nicke really stepped it up on the offensive end scoring 42 of our 54 points,” said JHS head coach Lance Homan.

To add to the Eagles tenacious defense, free throws became a big advantage for the Eagles in the second period, as Joseph was put into the double-bonus within the first two minutes of the quarter. JHS connected on five of eight attempts.

Joseph took a 14-8 first-period lead and extended it to 10 points at halftime. Coming out of the intermission, the Eagles put an exclamation point on the game, outscoring Adrian 26-18 in the second half.

Balanced scoring was key for JHS throughout the game, finishing with three players in double figures. Moncrief led Joseph with 16 points, Patton posted 15 points, while Parks finished the night with 11 points, nine rebounds and five blocks. Moncrief also had four steals and three assists. Megan Yost cleaned up the boards, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists. As a team, Jo-Hi had 11 assists and 10 steals.

“We faced a well coached Adrian team that played very good man-to-man defense and we really handled it well,” Homan said. “Holly Parker really does a great job of running our team. She may not always score a lot, but she keeps us moving.”

On Friday the Eagles hosted Elgin in a non-league contest and cruised to a 55-30 wire-to-wire, balanced-scoring win, picking up its ninth consecutive victory. Four JHS players scored in double figures: Patton and Emily Williams each scored 11 points, and Holly Parker and Parks both hit for 10 points. Williams also grabbed 11 rebounds. EHS led all scorers with 12 points, including a 6-for-11 effort at the free throw line.

“This was a complete team effort,” Homan said. “We had eight girls score … Emily Williams had a great game, overall (and) Holly Parker really does a great job of running our team.”

Joseph plays again on Friday at Powder Valley. Tip off is at approximately 6 p.m.