Enterprise's Jada Gray, shown last week against Weston-McEwen, scored 15 points in Enterprise's 31-30 win over Stanfield at the Blue Mountain Conference Tournament in Pendleton Friday, Feb. 18, 2022.

PENDLETON — For the third time this season, the Enterprise girls basketball team saw a second-half lead against Stanfield evaporate.

This time, though, the Outlaws had a response.

And as a result, they are headed to the state playoffs.

Emily Love scored 11 points and converted the winning layup with nine seconds remaining, and Enterprise — despite scoring just eight points in the second half — outlasted the Tigers, 31-30, Friday, Feb. 18, in the semifinals of the Blue Mountain Conference tournament at the Pendleton Convention Center.

The win put Enterprise into the championship game Feb. 19 against Union, and forced Stanfield into the third-place game against Heppner

With 18 seconds remaining and the Tigers holding on to a 30-29 lead, Stanfield’s Alexis Shelby missed the front end of a 1-and-1. The Outlaws corralled the rebound, Maci Marr pushed the ball up-court and found Love open at the basket for the winning hoop.

Stanfield got one final look on an inbounds play from half court, but a difficult 3-pointer by Maggie Sharp fell short.

The Outlaws pulled off the win despite scoring only eight points in the second half, and just two in the first 13 minutes as a 10-point halftime lead slowly became a 28-25 Stanfield lead, which matched the Tigers’ largest lead of the night.

Love ended a five-minute scoring drought with the Outlaws’ first points of the fourth, as a layup off a Jada Gray assist trimmed the margin to 28-27 with 2:58 remaining.

Two Zuri Reeser free throws regained a three-point lead with 2:01 to play, but free throws from Gray and Marr cut the margin to one with just over a minute to play.

The Tigers twice missed the front end of a 1-and-1 in the final 30.2 seconds before Love’s winner.

The Outlaws opened the contest with the first eight points and had a 10-2 lead just three minutes into the game, and was ahead 14-6 after one.

Stanfield pulled within 14-9 on Reeser’s floater, but Enterprise pushed the lead to 10 on a layup by Love. Sharp, who had 11 points and five steals, got two breakaway layups to trim the lead back to six, but two more layups by Gray, who had a game-high 15 points, put the Outlaws ahead at the half, 19-9.

Sharp and Reeser, who led the Tigers with 13 points, pulled Stanfield even as they combined for 10 points in the third quarter. Sharp scored six straight before Reeser hit two shots 90 seconds apart, with her jumper at the 1:01 mark tying the game at 23-23.

The Outlaws struggled mightily on offense in the third, committing seven turnovers and going without a basket until Rilyn Kirkland’s jumper just before the buzzer put the Outlaws ahead 25-23.

Enterprise and Union play in the championship game at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 19.