A10
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
WEDNESDAY
February 25, 2015
On to Round
1
GU girls secure third
at district tournament
By Angel Carpenter
L
Grant Union
Prospector
Samantha
Brock drives
down the
court in
the district
contest
against Union.
Contributed photo/Cindy Dougharity-Spencer
Blue Mountain Eagle
A GRANDE – Keeping the dream alive, the Grant Union girls are
headed for Round 1 of the OSAA State Championship games.
They will travel to Monroe to face the Dragons at 2 p.m. Saturday.
They earned the trip by clinching third place at last weekend’s Wa-
piti District Basketball Tournament, held at Eastern Oregon University
in La Grande.
Grant Union started with a
38-42 loss to Union last Friday,
but blazed to a 48-14 victory
over Imbler on Saturday.
All-League selections an-
nounced at the close of the tour-
nament included Kori Pentzer
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and McKenzie Wilson and Emily
Mosley, honorable mention.
Pentzer was instrumental in
Saturday’s 34-point win over
Imbler as the lead scorer with
17 points, followed by Heather
Mosley with 8.
Imbler’s Panthers likely had
trouble deciding which Prospec-
tor to defend as seven others con-
tributed to the scoring.
The most Imbler could man-
Contributed photos/Tanni Wenger Photography Studios
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held the Panthers to 3 points ball to the hoop in the game against
in the second and third, and 2 Union at the Wapiti District Tournament
last Friday.
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Grant Union’s biggest offen-
sive push came when they scored 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Grant Union entered the contest as third seed; Imbler was seeded fourth. Al-
though the Pros had beaten Imbler twice before, by more than 30 points each time,
the team took nothing for granted in their quest for state.
Heather Mosley led in rebounding for the Prospectors with six, followed by
See GU, Page A18
Lady Panthers oust Tigers in JD
Both teams close
season at District
Tournament
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY – The 1A High
Desert District Tournament was
full of highs and lows for rival
local teams.
Grant County’s Dayville/
Monument Lady Tigers and Prai-
rie City Panthers battled on the
court last Friday, the Panthers
claiming victory, 32-19.
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tournament, had worked hard to
make it to Game 2 against the
Panthers.
Dayville/Monument pushed
Harper/Huntington out of the
district tournament with a 42-28
play-in game held at Burnt River
School on Feb. 18.
In Friday’s game, the Panthers
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points, leaving the Tigers score-
less.
The Tigers battled back, out-
scoring their opponents 9-7 in the
second quarter. Fueling the run
were Treiquella Osborne, who
Several Grant Union wrestlers
earned medals at the district
tournament where the team placed
sixth, including, Clay Johnson,
front, Dillon Maley, left, Andrew
Copenhaver,
Antonio
Dancer,
James Mabe and Chance Ballou.
GU wrestler
Clay Johnson
is district
CHAMP
Four more wrestlers
earn third place
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
ENTERPRISE – One wrestler
rose to the top for the Grant Union
wrestling team at last week’s district
tournament.
Clay Johnson was named dis-
trict champion for the 120 weight
class, going 3-0 last Saturday in
Enterprise.
“Clay will represent us at the state
meet and was seeded third in the state
meet,” said Grant Union head coach
Andy Lusco.
Johnson will compete in the state
meet Friday at Portland’s Veterans Me-
morial Coliseum.
Four other Grant Union wrestlers also
gave strong performances at district,
each placing third.
Antonio Dancer (138) went 3-1,
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Dillon Maley (220) went 1-1, and
Chance Ballou (heavyweight) went
1-2.
“Our young wrestlers have made tre-
mendous progress this year, and we are
looking forward to bringing back every-
one except our lone senior, Paul Roark,”
Lusco said. “Coach Tye Parsons and
Jake Batease have done an excellent job
this season.”
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Dayville/Monument Tiger Cody Perkins (22) lunges for Prairie City Brianna Zweygardt’s
ball. Others in the action are Tigers Skylar Powell (11), Mary Yankee (24) and Emma Hettinga
(10), along with Panther Amaya Zweygardt (2).
went 4-for-4 at the free-throw
line, and Skylar Powell and
Emma Hettinga, with two buck-
ets each.
Yet the Panthers still held the
lead, 13-9.
Prairie City’s best offensive
quarter was the third. The Pan-
thers kept the lead at 24-15, with
Panther Amy Black hitting a
3-pointer and 2-pointer, Cassie
Hire sinking two 2-pointers, and
Lindsay Wall adding 2.
The Tigers tried a comeback in
the fourth quarter, closing the gap
to 7 points. They had some bright
moments, including a steal and an
interception, but couldn’t gain the
advantage.
Tiger head coach Jay Kenyon
congratulated the Panthers on
their win.
Panther head coach Penny
Black said her team stuck to their
game plan for the win.
See GIRLS, Page A18
Contributed photo/Cindy Dougharity-Spencer
Grant Union’s Clay Johnson puts his
opponent in a tough spot at the district
tournament in Enterprise. Johnson
was the champion for his weight class
and advances to the state tournament
which begins on Friday.
Elgin too much for GU boys at Wapiti Tournament
Prospectors gain experience, end season
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
LA GRANDE – The Grant
Union boys had a difficult time
getting their game off the ground
against Elgin at last Friday’s Wapi-
ti District Tournament.
Although the Pros eventually
came within reach of a win, they
fell short at the end, 43-49.
They started play with a
last-minute lineup change due to
injuries that kept a couple of start-
ers out of the game; however, after
getting treatment the two soon re-
turned to action.
Grant Union had a sluggish
start, trailing 4-17 in the first quar-
ter with the only buckets coming
from Brady Burch and Ricky We-
ickum.
“We had a very slow start, like-
ly due to our inexperience,” said
Prospector head coach Steve Speth.
Grant Union caught fire in the
second quarter, going from 17
points behind early on to end the
half trailing, 23-25.
The game was reminiscent
of their league game the previ-
ous week, facing Elgin at Grant
Union. In that contest, the Prospec-
tors made gains near the end for a
come-from-behind win; however,
the net and the win proved elusive
this time.
Elgin made a brief run at the
start of the third quarter to extend
their lead by 7 points.
“We couldn’t cut into it (the
lead) by the end of the quarter,”
Speth said. “We cut the lead down
to 1 or 2 a couple more times, but
we never were able to take control
of the game.”
The Huskies’ free throws also
helped in the final moments of the
game to hang on for the win.
“Despite not shooting well from
the field or the free-throw line, and
struggling with turnovers, our boys
played extremely hard and gained
some valuable experience playing
in the tournament,” Speth said.
Two Prospectors were recog-
nized as Wapiti All League play-
ers: Trace Gill, second team, and
Ricky Weickum, honorable men-
tion.
Grant Union
Prospectors for
the girls and
boys teams
gathered for
a photo last
Saturday: Front,
Kori Pentzer,
1st team (left);
McKenzie Wilson,
Honorable
Mention; back,
Ricky Weickum,
Honorable
Mention;
Emily Mosley,
Honorable
Mention; Heather
Mosley, 1st Team;
and Trace Gill,
2nd Team.
Contributed photo