<I>Hector del Castillo/Chieftain</I><BR>Enterprise senior guard Nathan DeSpain scored 16 points in the Outlaws 53-51 victory at the Weston-McEwen gym on Friday night. Teammate Andrew Kelly also tallied 16 points.

The visiting Enterprise High boys’ basketball team used some quick thinking to escape a last-second scare.

In all the haste of a wild finish in Friday night’s game in Umatilla County, the Outlaws just held on to the ball. With less than 10 seconds remaining, Enterprise had a 53-48 lead when Weston-McEwen senior Mike Lindell nailed a three-pointer. The Outlaws responded by refusing to inbound the ball. Weston-McEwen could do nothing, and the clock expired. Enterprise had a 53-51 win.

With only 14 seconds left in the game, both teams had called back-to-back, full timeouts. “[Weston-McEwen] had no timeouts left,” Enterprise coach Steve Lear said. “I told my players that if [Weston-McEwen] got a three, just look at the clock. If there’s less than five seconds to go, all you have to do is hold the ball out of bounds. Do not inbound it.”

In closing the regular season, Enterprise (11-12 overall, 8-6 in the Class 2A Blue Mountain Conference) earned its third win in four games. Leading the Outlaws, seniors Andrew Kelly and Nathan DeSpain scored 16 points, each. Sophomore Trenton Neil had 11.

The Outlaws had built a 28-19 lead at the half, but the Tiger-Scots threatened to catch them. In the third quarter, Neil picked up his fourth personal foul and had to sit.

Without their lead ball handler, the Outlaws struggled. Poor free throw shooting hurt. Enterprise made just eight of its first 21 attempts. By the end of the third, its lead was down to 41-38.

In the fourth, Enterprise woke up. In the final quarter, almost all of its offense came from the charity stripe. The Outlaws converted 10 of 18 foul shots.

“We had a temporary let down,” Lear said. “But then we kept pace. I think it was a testimony to our resolve. A lot of teams would have folded in a situation like that.”

On Tuesday night, Feb. 6, at Quinn Court, Enterprise topped visiting Elgin, 69-46.

This Friday, Enterprise and Weston-McEwen will have a sequel. At the Blue Mountain Conference Tournament in Baker City, the fourth-seeded Outlaws and the fifth-seeded Tiger-Scots will compete in the opening round.

The winner plays again on Saturday. It will face the loser of Friday afternoon’s Pilot Rock-Heppner game. The loser is sone for the year.