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Its not how you start, but how you finish. Wallowa proved that statement true as the Cougars overcame a first quarter deficit and pulled out a 44-34 win over Old Oregon League foe Adrian on Friday night in Wallowa.

“It was an ugly game, but I thought our defense was good,” said WHS head coach Greg Oveson. “I was disappointed with the turnovers, but we stepped up and made our free throws and shut them out when it counted.”

Adrian took a 30-28 lead with 5:39 left in the game, but Wallowa (7-7 overall, 3-5 Old Oregon League) remained calm and on the Cougs’ ensuing possession Kaleb Oveson hit Kainoa Delatori at the top of the key for an open three-pointer and gave WHS a 31-30 lead.

At the 2:54 mark, the Antelopes had a chance to tie the score when Paul Vallejo was called for an offensive foul, which gave the ball back to Wallowa. A few plays later Adrian had another opportunity to tie the score or take the lead, but WHS’s Patrick Green stole an errant pass by Mat Lorinczy and went the length of the court for a layup, giving the Cougs a three-point cushion, 37-34.

Adrian was desperate to stop the clock and with 38.4 seconds remaining in the period, the Antelopes sent Trevor DeVore to foul line, but DeVore sank both shots.

The Cougars also got a lift from Geoff Long in the final seconds, as he hit five of six attempts from the free throw line, including two from a technical foul called on the Antelopes.

“All I needed to do was relax,” Long said. “Usually when I shoot free throws I get nervous and don’t make them, but I wasn’t really thinking about it this time.”

Wallowa connected on seven three-pointers, with Delatori and Oveson hitting three each.

Delatori paced the Cougars with 11 points, while Oveson also finished with 11. Long added nine points and two steals. In the losing effort, Chris Schumacher led Adrian with 15 points and five rebounds.

The Cougs travel to Pine Eagle (5-10, 3-5) on Friday for another OOL contest. Game time is at approximately 5:30 p.m. Wallowa plays at Jordan Valley on Saturday at approximately 4:30 p.m.

Cougars come close to upset, but fall shortWallowa was mounting a fourth-quarter rally Friday night when Imbler guard Denny Cline nailed a three-pointer, giving the Panthers (12-3 overall, 8-0 Old Oregon League) a 45-42 lead, which it never relinquished, eventually winning 53-48.

Throughout the game, the Cougars tried to focus its defensive attention on Imbler’s Max Nilsson, but Nilsson crashed the offensive glass on every shot attempt, which led to easy putbacks. This was the dilemma Wallowa faced defending Nilsson.

Nisson dissected the Cougs all night, scoring 25 points and pulling down 17 rebounds.

“We were ahead until the last three minutes and then we couldn’t make a basket,” Oveson said.

“We had a lot of chances, but couldn’t get the baskets.”

The Cougars’ defense held Imbler to three field goals in the first half, but the Panthers kept plugging away and eventually gained an offensive rhythm.

WHS led by six late in the first half and never trailed until the 4:30 mark in the fourth quarter. Imbler got back in the game in the final period by shooting 73 percent from the field, draining eight of 11 shots.

Oveson feels that the Panthers’ size was a factor in the loss, but his team had opportunities to steal a win and couldn’t get it done, he said.

Wallowa came close to knocking off a ranked team partly because of the play of Delatori and Luke Survis, who finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Long, DeVore and Oveson all contributed with tough defense, Oveson said.

Junior Varsity loses to AdrianThe Wallowa junior varsity fell in a close contest to Adrian 52-46 Friday.