County basketball teams push for playoffs

Published 9:11 am Tuesday, January 31, 2023

ENTERPRISE — The 2022-23 high school basketball regular season concludes in fewer than two weeks, and several Wallowa County teams are in a good position to reach their respective league tournaments and play for a state playoff berth, while a couple of other teams need some late wins to get into district play.

On the girls side, Enterprise had a strong hold on the No. 2 seed in the Blue Mountain Conference with a 5-2 league record, but has two important games this week and needs to win at least one of them to help hold that spot.

The Outlaws, who are 11-8 overall, visit Heppner Friday, Feb. 3, and league-leading Stanfield Saturday, Feb. 4. The Mustangs are just 2-5 in league play, but Enterprise had to eke out a 29-26 home win over Heppner in the teams’ first meeting Jan. 20. The next night, the Outlaws will be underdogs against a Stanfield team that is 19-1, is third in the 2A rankings and is dominating the BMC with a 7-0 record and its smallest margin of victory being by 25 points. The Tigers topped Enterprise 54-24 in the first matchup.

The Outlaws, who are ranked 11th, are trying to stay ahead of Weston-McEwen, which is 4-3 in league play. The teams split their two regular-season games.

In the Old Oregon League, Wallowa is bouncing back from a slow start and gaining momentum, having won four of its last six games to move to 4-3 in league and into the top half of the OOL. The Cougars are currently sixth in the 12-team OOL, and third in their half of the league. The slate includes two solid wins over OOL and county rival Joseph. Wallowa also pushed Imbler, the top team in its half of the league, to overtime in the first matchup before falling 41-39, though the rematch wasn’t as close as the Panthers won 47-32.

Wallowa can ensure a winning league record and secure no worse than third in its division this week if it defeats Cove and Pine Eagle on Feb. 2 and 3 — two teams the Cougars have already topped. Wallowa edged Cove, 40-35, in the first matchup, and routed Pine Eagle 37-12 in their last meeting.

Joseph, meanwhile, is currently a game behind Wallowa, tied for seventh in the OOL and alone in fourth in its division.

The Eagles had seemingly bounced back from a rough 0-7 start to the season with a stretch that saw them win six of eight games — including a home upset over Imbler on Jan. 19.

Since that win, though, Joseph has dropped three in a row and is 3-4 in OOL play. The weekend features a challenging slate with home games against Cove and Powder Valley Feb. 3 and 4, before a rematch with Imbler to wrap up the regular season. A win over Cove Friday, coupled by one more loss by Pine Eagle, would lock the Eagles in no worse than fourth place in their half of the league.

Boys standingsFor the boys, Joseph is in a tie for sixth in what may be the toughest league in 1A hoops with three teams ranked in the top eight of the OSAA rankings — more than any other league.

The Eagles sport a 13-5 overall record, but are just 4-3 in league play, and finish their regular season against the three teams they’ve lost to.

Up this week is a Feb. 3 home showdown against No. 6 Cove, which is the current leader in their half of the OOL. The Leopards topped Joseph at home 49-38 last month. The next night, the Eagles will seek revenge against Powder Valley, a vital game as the teams enter the week with identical league marks. The Badgers won the first contest at home, 70-67.

The young Wallowa boys are in need of something positive if they want to contend for a district playoff spot as they’re currently 0-7 in league play, and this week have a pair of home games. The Cougars host the aforementioned Leopards Feb. 2, then return home to host Pine Eagle on Feb. 3. Wallowa is currently tied for 11th, and needs a win in one of its games this week to have a shot at getting into the top 10 in the OOL, and the top five on its half of the league.

And in the 2A ranks, Enterprise stopped its five-game losing streak with a win Jan. 28 over Irrigon, but needs a strong finish to move out of its current fifth-place spot in the BMC. It’ll require springing an upset as the Outlaws visit two teams this week — Heppner on Feb. 3 and Stanfield on Feb. 4 — that handed them home losses in mid-January by 42 and 20 points, respectively. A win in at least one game — and probably both — is needed if the Outlaws want a shot at catching Weston-McEwen for fourth place in the BMC.

Once the respective league tournaments are set, the BMC teams will be competing for two automatic state playoff berths, and the OOL teams will square off for four state berths.