<p>Wallowa Cougar senior Samantha Johnston comes way with a rebound in Saturday afternoon's consolation bracket game in the Jospeh High School gym.</p>

Wallowas Lady Cougars picked on their cross-county rivals in Joseph Saturday to notch Wallowas first victory of the season, 58-29.

Wallowa, now 1-6, played two games in a Joseph-hosted tourney this past weekend, losing the first matchup, 38-21 to Cove. Both games were considered part of the pre-season, however, so neither contest will be counted in Old Oregon League standings.

In victimizing Joseph to end their own losing streak, the Wallowa girls extended the E-Gals season-opening pain. Joseph remained winless at 0-6.

Statistics were not immediately available for the Joseph game.

In their game Friday against Cove, the Lady Cougs nearly fulfilled part of the formula that regular head coach Greg Oveson seeks to employ throughout the season: holding the opponent to around 35 points. The Lady Leopards surpassed the mark by only three points, but the other half of Ovesons formula a seemingly modest 40-point or better performance by Wallowas offense wasnt realized Friday.

Oveson, who recently returned from vacation, was back at the Wallowa girls coaching helm this past weekend.

After a forgettable first quarter performance (17-7 in Coves favor), Wallowas defense immediately tightened the screws in the second and third periods, allowing the Leopards only four points in each stanza while the Cougs were chipping in two and six points, respectively, in those two frames an 8-8 standoff. Cove then outscored Wallowa 13-6 in the fourth period to build the rest of the Leopards 17-point winning margin.

The Cougars host the annual Wallowa Lions Tournament Friday and Saturday, Dec. 21-22.

WHS stats vs. Cove:

Scoring: Morgan Waters 5 points; Samantha Johnston and Kristyn Young 4; Sally Mary Blair, Alex Chrisman and Taylor Harshfield 2. (Note: These figures total only 19; two WHS points are uncredited in the posted stats).

Rebounds: Young 9; Blair 6; Calli Miller 5; Waters 2; Johnston and Macey Frei 1.

Wallowa also had 7 steals (Young led with 3), 5 assists (Young 2), and one block (Miller).