Girls basketball: Western Christian stops Enterprise at state tourney

Published 8:30 pm Wednesday, February 28, 2024

PENDLETON — The Enterprise girls basketball team did a good job defending 11 players of the top-ranked Western Christian Pioneers in the quarterfinal game of the 2A state tournament on Thursday, Feb. 29.

The 12th member of the Pioneers — Tri-River Conference Player of the Year Runon Muroya — was a different story.

Muroya exploded for 30 points, 25 of those in the first half, as the Pioneers beat the Outlaws, 57-29 at the Pendleton Convention Center.

The Outlaws seemed primed for a possible upset of the Pioneers when the first quarter ended with Enterprise down by only five points, 17-12.

But the bottom fell out for the Outlaws in the second quarter, when they were outscored 21-5 and headed into halftime down 38-17.

Enterprise’s scoring woes continued in the second half, with the team adding only 12 points over the final 16 minutes.

The Outlaw girls could not find the basket in the team’s perimeter shooting, failing to convert a three-point shot all game. By contrast, Runyon hit eight of the Pioneers’ three-point shots in the game.

Runyon led all scorers in the game, scoring over half her team’s total points and was named the Moda Player of the Game for the Pioneers.

For Enterprise, Alex Rowley picked up the Moda Player of the Game for the Outlaws after scoring 12 points and picking up seven rebounds. Kendall Wigen and Kimber Stein each added four points.

The Outlaws, the champion of the Blue Mountain Conference and the No. 8 seed in the tournament, fell into the consolation bracket and will play at 9 a.m. Friday at Pendleton High School. The Outlaws, now 17-10 overall, will play the the No. 5 seed, Nestucca, which lost 46-39 to Knappa on Thursday. 

A win Friday would advance the Outlaws into the game for fourth place at the tournament. That game is scheduled for Saturday at 10:45 a.m. at the Pendleton Convention Center.