<I>Hector del Castillo/Chieftain</I><BR>Coach Lance Homan and the Lady Eagles devise a gameplan in the fourth quarter against Wallowa.

Hungry for payback, the Eagles tasted an especially sweet win.

Two weeks after girls from Joseph High School lost a basketball game at Wallowa, they finally got to return the feeling. The Lady Eagles trailed the Cougars during most of their Feb. 6 rematch in Joseph, until the final seconds. That’s when senior Josey Kohlhepp, reputed as dangerous in the fourth quarter, delivered another pivotal blow. Her jump shot put the Eagles ahead, 54-53. They had trailed the Cougars by 11 points at the start of the fourth. Later, senior Anna Bird added two from the free-throw line and those proved crucial. Wallowa’s Meagan McKenzie scored as time expired, but Joseph ended up with a 56-55 victory.

“That felt so good,” said Bird, who compared the thrill to an emotion she experienced a couple of times last season as the girls climbed to the state’s championship. Joseph stole a quarterfinal from Crane, erasing the Mustangs’ six-point lead in the last 36 seconds of the fourth quarter. Paige Bailey beat the buzzer with a three-pointer that forced overtime, and the Eagles won the extra period. Later, Joseph beat Imbler for the title thanks to Nicke Parks’ hook shot with two seconds left. And last week’s win was just as sweet, Bird added, “probably just because it was Wallowa.”

The victory, Joseph’s third in a row – the previous day, it defeated Powder Valley in a 54-42 margin – broke another tie with Wallowa for third place in Old Oregon. A tug-of-war between the rivals, they have shared or taken turns in that spot since this season started. The Eagles’ record now stands at 5-4; the Cougars’ 4-5. Overall, Joseph upped its mark this season to 9-12.

Combining the Eagles’ two games last weekend, Bird totaled 34 points. Senior Mariah Warnock tallied 30 points, junior Jesse Kohlhepp had 25, Josey 21. Several younger players, new to varsity, have contributed to the winning streak. They include junior Emily Howerton, sophomore Jade DeLury, sophomore Paige Hunting, sophomore Danica Gross, sophomore Charli Doss and freshman Lexi Nelson.

“When we come together and do good things, it feels great,” Bird said. “People might not expect much out of us, but we do. We’ve been in these situations before.”.