<p>Lady Cougar freshman Taylor Harshfield lays the ball into the basket with ease after a steal from the Cove Leopard side.</p>

Wallowa High School’s varsity basketball girls repeatedly flexed their muscles over the weekend, pouring in points on offense while holding very tough on defense. In the end, the Lady Cougars had come away with a pair of lopsided wins, 56-20 over Prairie City on Friday, and 64-14 over Cove on Saturday.

“We’re starting to connect some things together,” said Wallowa coach Annette Moeller in a Dec. 19 interview. “They’re just really coming together as a team,” she said of her players. “No matter who they’re playing, they’re playing full-court ball.”

She said the success has been extending to all facets of the game, including, among others, assists and rebounds as well as shooting, which of late has seen improvement in the outside shooting game. The team had already established its inside dominance earlier in the season.

Wallowa played its Dec. 16 and 17 contests at the Joseph Invitational Tournament. Against Prairie City on Dec. 16, the Lady Cougars jumped out to a commanding 20-2 lead after one period, led 29-8 at the half, and continued to build on that advantage through the second half, cruising easily to the 56-20 victory.

A fairly balanced Wallowa scoring attack saw Morgan Waters lead with 15 points, followed by Bekah Jamerson with 11, and Skylar Waters with 10. Wallowa’s other scorers in the game were Shawna Chrisman with eight points; Baylee Shelton, five; Breanna Wallace, three; and Kristyn Young and Shai Allen with two points each. Wallowa hit three three-pointers (two by Skylar Waters and one by Morgan Waters), and went nine-for-14 from the free-throw line as a team.

Jamerson led all rebounders with seven boards, followed closely by Shawna Chrisman with six.

The Lady Cougars’ 64-14 drubbing of Cove on Dec. 17 again highlighted a well-spread scoring effort. Individual point totals: Jamerson, 12; Morgan Waters, 11; Sara Chrisman and Wallace, 10 each; Skylar Waters and Shelton, eight each; Taylor Harshfield and Young, two each; Mikayla Frei, one. Skylar Waters had her team’s only three-pointer. For the second straight night, the Lady Cougars went nine-for-14 from the line (64 percent).

Wallace’s nine rebounds led the Cougars.

Moeller noted that she had substituted freely in both games, and the team continued to perform well with its freshmen and sophomores on the court. “That made me very happy,” the coach said.