Height makes might, and two 65 hoopsters playing for the Enterprise Outlaws Kaden Lathrop and Damon Greenshields dominated play last weekend when EHS won its own Winter Classic basketball tournament in Quinn Court by besting Joseph 49-20 and Pine Eagle 49-35.

Between them, the two pillars for the Outlaw squad Lathrop a junior and Greenshields a senior both topped the total point production of the other two teams and tallied more than 70 percent of Enterprises overall total point production for Friday and Saturday nights.

Lathrop, a rugged rebounder with a soft outside touch, scored 22 and 19 points in the two games, while Greenshields banged hard on the boards and earned many close-in baskets while accruing game totals of 11 and 17 points.

Pine Eagle, like Joseph a smaller 1A school compared to Enterprises higher enrollment 2A classification, fought gamely in the championship game Saturday evening and even had the score tied at 31-31 late in the third period before Lathrop quashed any Spartan thoughts of an upset by, for a spell, dominating the tempo of the game. The aggressive junior suddenly corralled nearly every rebound in sight, scored 10 points in short order, and EHS outscored Pine-Eagle 18-3 down the stretch to break out a tight game and convert it into a lopsided win.

In Saturdays consolation game, won by Joseph 37-32 over Wallowa, those in the stands had a good look at the quality of small-school high school basketball barring student transfers out of the area they will be viewing in coming years. To compliment expected maturation of other talented young players on those teams and high-caliber players moving up into high school, Joseph freshman Cayden DeLury and Wallowa freshman Chandler Burns put on memorable displays of basketball skill. DeLury, a small, quick guard, scored 17 of Josephs points and the 61 Burns scored 15 for Wallowa. DeLury surprised some by banging home three 3-point field goals during the game.

After a slow first period that left the Eagles and Cougars in a 6-6 tie, Joseph ground out a small lead in the second period and basically held WHS at bay for most of the second half.

No one other than the two freshmen came close to scoring in double figures.

After the contest, Joseph coach Olan Fulfer had kind words to say about his schools cross-county rival from Wallowa. Wallowa is a good team that we will play three more times this year, he said. We look forward to the challenge.

On Friday, Wallowa lost its tourney opener to Pine Eagle by a 43-31 score.

After the Cougars top scorer Chaz Murray hit a field goal at the games outset (what proved to be his only points of the game), Wallowa went on a nine minute scoring drought and never came close to winning the contest. Wallowa coach Warren Wilson said his team shot a meager one for 11 from the field during that disastrous opening quarter, and yet remained in striking distance against a Spartan team that, too, was having problems shooting the basketball.

Yet hopes of WHS pulling out a victory, already dampened by a woeful offensive start to the game, became nonexistent as successes and failures from the free throw line were evidenced. While the visiting hoopsters from Halfway in Baker County converted 10 of 15 free throw attempts, the Cougars shot nothing but blanks on six tries from the line.

Wallowa junior point guard Karl Wellens scored 13 points, and was the only Cougar to reach double figures.

Of Enterprises decisive 49-20 victory over Joseph on Friday, JHS coach Fulfer said, We were outmatched physically in this game.

Outlaw coach Jeff Micka said he employed a tight half-court press for much of the first half against the young, undersized Eagles and concluded the first 16 minutes of play with a 27-6 lead. Though substitutions were made in the second half, only Lathrop with 22 points and Greenshields with 11 points reached double figures for EHS. Senior guards David Ribich and Cody White each chipped in seven points.

Topping Joseph Eagle scorers with four points apiece were DeLury, Wil Story, and Blair Beaudoin.