The Eagles enjoyed the kind of season-opening weekend that basketball coaches dream about.

On Friday, Nov. 30, Joseph High School won the Sherman Tournament championship. The Eagles played a smooth, well-balanced game against the Culver High School Bulldogs and earned a 71-59 victory. On Saturday, Dec. 1, Class 1A Joseph rallied from behind Class 3A Grant Union. With 12 seconds left, senior guard Chris Harshman converted his steal into a fast-break lay up, clinching the Eagles’ 59-58 upset.

“After (Saturday’s) game, we were in the locker room and I asked the guys, ‘Was there ever a time any of you thought we were gonna lose?'” coach Larry Nall said. “No one felt that way.”

Three seniors led the team in scoring. Corby Makin tallied 17 points, while Devin Patton had 16. Fayira Touray, a foreign exchange student from Sweden, had seven.

The Grant Union Prospectors led by six points with four minutes left, but Joseph made a comeback worry of a chess board. The Eagles called timeouts and committed fouls to freeze the clock. The Prospectors struggled at the line in that stretch of time, missing five attempts.

Joseph still trailed 58-57, with less than a minute remaining, when Harshman intercepted a lazy pass and raced across the court for the win.

On Friday, Harshman scored 13 points for the Eagles in their win the Bulldogs. They also used 16 points from Makin and 14 from junior Erik Steen.

Joseph hosted Umatilla High School on Tuesday, Dec. 4, but that game was scheduled too late to be included in this edition of the Chieftain. The Eagles will travel to Enterprise this weekend for the Winter Classic.

Contact reporter Hector del Castillo at 426-4567, or e-mail at hdelcastillo@wallowa.com.