Senior Anna Bird drilled three shots from beyond the three-point arc Dec. 5 in Joseph High School’s second game of a basketball tournament in Prairie City, and classmate Mariah Warnock scored 16 points as the young Lady Eagles bounced back from a loss the previous day and defeated the home team by the score of 49-31.

The Eagles evened their record at 1-1. Junior Jesse Kohlhepp banked 9 points in the win, while senior Josey Kohlhepp had 6. Joseph also played several younger teammates, including junior Emily Howerton, sophomore Jade DeLury, freshman Paige Hunting and sophomore Danica Gross.

“It was nice to see our point guards relax and handle the pressure,” coach Lance Homan said. “Our kids responded to the pressure very well and took care of business.”

Most importantly, Joseph protected the ball from Prairie City. The Eagles’ offensive numbers over the two games almost mirror each other. In a 43-37 loss to the Adrian High Antelopes, Bird hit three threes and Warnock tallied 16 points. This time, Jesse made a couple of foul shots and Howerton chipped in a basket. But the Eagles turned over the ball 46 times. The Antelopes took advantage and unleashed almost twice as many shots. They converted 18 of 68 attempts (.265) while Joseph made 15-of-35 (.429).

“Adrian took care of the ball better than we did and that was the story of the game,” Homan said. “We are looking forward to our tournament in order to get another chance at them.”

Joseph returned home for a Dec. 8 game against Enterprise. It happened too late for this edition of the Chieftain.

Next, the Eagles will make the short drive Dec. 11 and 12 over to Enterprise for the Winter Classic.