Eagle girls get break from league play

HOOD RIVER — The Hood River Valley girls basketball team took a break from games over the past week, when the Eagles prepped for the second quarter of their 16-game league season. HRV played just one contest on Jan. 12, a 41-25 home loss to Canby, who pulled away from the Eagles in the second half. The Cougars limited Hood River to a single field goal in the third period, where Canby built on its 21-16 halftime lead. Back-to-back three-pointers from the Cougars gave them a 32-18 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Bella Howe hit a three-pointer early in the final period — one of three on the night for the senior guard — but Canby pulled out again with six of the next seven points to regain control of the low-scoring contest. Howe led HRV with nine points. Hood River had only two field goals after intermission.

Hood River has now lost six of its past seven games after a 3-2 start. The Eagles sit tied for sixth in the nine-team Northwest Oregon Conference, but a closer look shows that Coach Zach Pauls’ team’s losses — to Wilsonville, La Salle Prep and Canby — came against the league’s top three teams. All three exerted full-court pressure against Hood River, taking advantage of Eagle turnovers to build leads.

The upcoming schedule is more favorable. Three of HRV’s next four opponents sit either tied with the Eagles or below them in the NWOC standings. The fourth foe, Putnam, is just a game ahead of HRV in the win column through Jan. 18.