Updated: Enterprise girls beat Willamina, head to state tourney

Published 6:45 am Friday, February 23, 2024

ENTERPRISE — The Enterprise Outlaws girls basketball team is headed to Pendleton and the quarterfinals of the 2A state championship.

The Outlaws dispatched Willamina, 41-30, on Saturday, Feb. 24, in the first round of the tournament.

Enterprise used strong scoring in the second and fourth quarters to secure the win in front of a home crowd.

“We got it done again,” said Enterprise coach Dan Butterfield. “The girls are really playing well eight now.”

Nevaeh James led the team with 10 points. Alex Rowley added eight points and Kimber Stein scored in seven points. Eight Outlaw players contributed to the team’s 41-point total.

Enterprise, now 17-9 overall, is riding a three-game winning streak to the state tourney in Pendleton.

The Outlaws, the No. 8 seed in the tourney and the Blue Mountain Conference champions, face a tough challenge in the quarterfinals: They’ll play Western Christian from Salem, the No. 1 seed and the champions of the Tri-River Conference.

The Pioneers, the top-ranked team in the state, boast a 27-1 overall record and haven’t lost since a Dec. 8 game against Bandon. In the first round of the tournament, Western Christian held Veronia to 15 points in a 54-15 romp.

The Enterprise-Western Christian game is the first game in the tourney at the Pendleton Convention Center and is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 29. Win or lose, the Outlaws will play at least once more in the tourney, either in Friday’s semifinals or the consolation bracket.

One other team from the Blue Mountain Conference qualified for Pendleton: Stanfield, the No. 11 seed, defeated East Linn Christian 51-36 in the first round and will meet Regis, the No. 3 seed, in the quarterfinals.

Two other Blue Mountain Conference teams that made the tournament’s round of 16 — Heppner and Weston-McEwen — lost in the first round.