IMBLER – Wallowa’s varsity boys got off to an exciting but mildly disappointing start in the league portion of their season, dropping a one-point decision on the road, 51-50, on Saturday, Jan. 7.

Wallowa coach Warren Wilson said the Cougars played “a tremendous game,” but Imbler’s gym “is a tough place to play and win. We would have liked to steal it away from them.”

Sporting a balanced offensive attack, the Cougars jumped to a 17-7 lead after one period, and increased it to 37-22 by halftime. After returning from the break, though, the Cougars didn’t maintain that healthy inside-and-outside approach, and their lead began to dissolve.

“We kind of had moments where we became a perimeter-shooting team,” Wilson remarked.

It took Imbler nearly all of the second half to fully whittle away the last of the Wallowa lead, which means the Cougars were in the contest up until the bitter end. The Panthers, who hit their go-ahead basket with 18 seconds remaining, again had possession as time was about to run out, but lost the ball out of bounds. This gave Wallowa a last-gasp chance inbounding from half-court, but a long toss to a player near the key didn’t give that heavily-guarded target a clean look inside. Game over.

Wilson said the game’s high intensity wore his players down somewhat as the contest wore on. He noted that Imbler was employing a “seven-deep” lineup for most of the game while Wallowa “played six deep.”

He also said the teams were about evenly matched and Imbler has a history of squeaking out close victories over Wallowa on the Panthers’ court. He cited the Cougars’ loss at the buzzer at Imbler last year.

This year, the Cougars’ downfall was partially attributable to a late breakdown on the boards. They would have only needed one timely defensive rebound in the final minute to prevent the Panthers’ final hoop. “They had three opportunities at it because we didn’t block out,” Wilson said.

Another problem area for Wallowa: turnovers. Wilson said the Cougars had 29 of them, and that’s nearly double the total he needs to see.

Coming up this week, the Cougars host Pine Eagle on Friday, and travel to Cove on Saturday.

Wilson wouldn’t be surprised if nearly every game from here on develops into a hard-fought and close contest. “You have a tough league,” he said. “Every game’s going to be a battle.”

Wallowa individual scoring vs. Imbler: Pablo Duque, 17 points (including one three-pointer); Wes Conrad, 12 (two three-pointers); Kody Swift, 10; Pierce Millar, seven (one three-pointer); Dusty McDaniel, four. The team was good from the free-throw line, going eight-for-11.

McDaniel led in rebounds with seven (team total, 21).