County basketball players win conference honors

Published 7:00 am Tuesday, March 7, 2023

While only one Wallowa County basketball team reached the state playoffs, there was no lack of all-league performers from all three high schools — especially on the girls side.

Led by the first-team selection of senior guard Maci Marr, the Enterprise girls basketball team garnered four all-Blue Mountain Conference selections to pace the way for the local schools.

“She’s obviously a team leader and all the other schools saw that. She was a unanimous pick,” Enterprise girls head coach Dan Butterfield said. “She (was) always the one the girls went to as we kept losing players (to injury). She was the one who held in there and rallied the troops. As the season went on she started to believe in herself as a scorer.”

Joining Marr in the all-league honors was junior Alex Rowley, who earned second-team recognition from the BMC coaches.

“Alex was obviously the girl that gets a lot of stuff done,” Butterfield said. “Alex did a great job this year of, I think, starting to realize how valuable she was (to the team).”

Two players — seniors Maddie Nordtvedt and Josi Coggins — earned honorable mentions.

“Josi is a girl that I had a really hard time beating to the gym,” the coach said. “She was always the first one there and the last one to leave. I really value those seniors. They set the standard.

“Maddie didn’t get to play the whole season, (and) her stats don’t reflect what she did, but she always was a really tough rebounder. She was our leading shot blocker for the year.”

The quartet helped the Outlaws to a 15-11 record and a berth in the 2A playoffs, where they fell to eventual state champion Gervais.

Wallowa, which recovered from a slow start to finish 11-11, saw two players receive first-team honors on the Cougars’ side of the Old Oregon League — junior guards Sophie Moeller and Zoe Hermens.

“They’re definitely our leaders, and the thing is they’ve played way more basketball than all the rest of them have,” Wallowa girls head coach Greg Oveson said. “This year, for the most part when one of them was off the other was on. And when they were both on, we were way better.

“Sophie and Zoe were getting all five people involved. There were times when they took over games, but for the most part we had five people contributing.

“With Sophie and Zoe, they play so much basketball together, it’s like they’re thinking with the same brain.”

Joseph also had its share of ups and downs, but had a strong midseason before finishing 6-16. Senior post Molly Curry was the Eagles’ representative on the OOL first-team, and freshman Caleigh Johnson was named to the second team.

On the boys side, Joseph senior guard Blade Suto was a first-team OOL selection for a squad that finished 13-9. He was joined on the all-league team by senior guard James Burney, who was a second-team honoree.

“Our two leading scorers — they went back and forth all season leading the team in scoring,” head coach Olan Fulfer said.

“Both worked super-hard. They definitely earned their all-league honors. Blade set a really good example for our young kids getting in the gym. James, he has been through a lot to battle through all the adversity that he has. He has dedicated everything that he has to get through basketball.”

Enterprise finished 5-20, but saw two players named to the all-BMC team, including a freshman in Kason Mitchell, who stepped into his role and was selected to the second team. Senior Maclane Melville earned an honorable mention.

Wallowa’s sophomore post Isaac Barnum, a bright spot during a tough 3-18 campaign for a young Cougar squad, was tapped OOL honorable mention.

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