Wallowa claims District 7 boys title

Wallowa proved too strong for the Badgers on this night, running away with a 76-62 victory.

As the district runnerup, Powder Valley will host Spray Wednesday in the first round of the Class 1A state playoffs. The winner of that game then travels to Butte Falls Saturday.

Wallowa, as the district champion, will host the winner of Wednesday’s Sherman-Crane contest on Saturday.

Wallowa took the lead for good Saturday with a 7-0 run midway through the first quarter.

Tied at 8-8, Wallowa then got four points from Jake Johnson, two from Mark Jamerson, and one from Dusty McDaniel to take a 15-8 lead with 1:54 left in the quarter.

Wallowa led 19-15 at the break.

Powder Valley pulled to within 19-18 on Levi Allen’s three-pointer to start the second period. But that was close as the Badgers would get.

Another 7-0 Wallowa run, including a dunk by Ronald Gladden, build the lead back to 26-18 with 6: 13 left in the first half.

Wallowa led 43-29 at halftime.

The teams then battled evenly in the second half with Powder getting no closer than 11 points.

Johnson led four Cougars in double figures with 24 points. Jamerson added 17 points and 15 rebounds, Tyler Harshfield 13 points, and Gladden 10 points.

Trenton Dixon topped Powder Valley with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Allen added 18 points.

Wallowa    19    24    19    14    — 76

Powder Valley    15    14    16    17    — 62

Wallowa (76) — Harshfield 6 0-0 13, Jamerson 7 2-4 17, R. Gladden 3 4-6 10, Johnson 10 3-5 24, McDaniel 4 1-2 9, Evans, Miller, Waters 1 1-2 3, J. Gladden, Chrisman, Conrad. Totals 31 11-19 76.

Powder Valley (62) — G. Kandle 1 0-0 2, Dixon 9 4-5 27, Allen 7 0-0 18, B. Kandle, Colton 1 0-1 2, Reed 0 2-2 2, Weems, S. Akers 1 0-0 3, Townsend, N. Benites 2 3-4 8, V. Benites. Totals 21 9-12 62.

Three-point goals — Harshfield, Jamerson, Johnson, Dixon 5, Allen 4, N. Benites. Fouled out — none. Total fouls — Wallowa 14, Powder Valley 16. Technicals — none.