SPORTS
8A — THE OBSERVER
LHS swimmers
take second at
Lebanon Invite
Observer staff
LA GRANDE — In a meet that came down to the
wire — and may serve as a preview for the state
meet in February — the La Grande girls swim team
swam stroke-for-stroke Saturday with Sweet Home
at the Lebanon Invitational, with the defending state
champion Huskies edging the Tigers by a single point,
88-87, for the team victory.
The outcome, though, was in spite of La Grande still
battling illness within the team, according to head
coach Darren Dutto.
The LHS girls had a victory from Kristal Jensen
in the 100-yard butterfl y (1:03.16) and had strong
performances throughout the lineup that showed
the team’s depth. The Tigers piled up seven addi-
tional second-place fi nishes and three third-place
showings. Jensen, in addition to her win in the
butterfl y, took second in the 50 freestyle in 26.72
seconds. Romayne Ricker placed second in the 100
freestyle (59.34) and 100 breaststroke (1:11.70). Ri-
ana Scott was second in the 200 individual medley
(2:21.42), and Kennedy Kruse was second in the 500
freestyle (5:39.87).
Reagan Kruse added third-place fi nishes in the 50
freestyle (27.66) and the 100 freestyle (59.52), and
Riley Weigand was third in the 200 IM (2:31.73).
Two LHS relay teams also placed second — the
200 medley relay of Scott, Ricker, Jensen and Reagan
Kruse in 1:57.81 and the 200 freestyle relay team of
Ricker, Jensen and the Kruse sisters in 1:49.69.
The LHS boys scored 42 points to take third place.
Glenn Ricker led the Tigers with a victory in the 100
butterfl y (58.01). Dutto said the freshman came from
behind in the fi nal 10 yards to steal the win. He was
also third in the 100 breaststroke in 1:09.75.
T.J. Clay was second in the 100 backstroke (1:00.90)
and third in the 100 freestyle (54.49), and Clay, Levy
Brembach, Adam Remily and Ricker took second in
the 200 freestyle relay (1:44.68).
The Tigers return to action Saturday in Madras.
BOYS
Continued from Page 6A
points in the third in a home
loss to Prairie City.
The Panthers trailed just 10-6
after one, but the second quarter
left them in a 22-10 hole and
Prairie City surged out a 47-15
lead after three quarters.
Chance Goodman and
Wyatt Frost scored six points
apiece for Imbler.
La Grande JV 38, Cove
26: The Leopards struggled
offensively as they suffered a
home loss to the Tigers.
Stats were not available.
SATURDAY
Weston-McEwen 57, Im-
bler 45: The Panthers used
a 16-0 run to erase an early
third-quarter defi cit Satur-
day and took as much as a
seven-point lead in the fourth
quarter, but Weston-McEwen
ended the game on a 19-0 run
to grab a road victory.
Weston-McEwen used a
quick 6-0 run to go ahead
35-26 early in the third, then
went scoreless the rest of the
period while Imbler battled
back and eventually took a
36-35 lead on a rebound and
putback by Christian Treat
with 44 seconds to go in the
third quarter. Isaac Her-
ron beat the third-quarter
buzzer with a jumper for a
three-point lead, and added a
3-pointer for a 45-38 advan-
tage in the fi nal period.
But Blair Rudolph — who
scored 21 points for the Ti-
gerScots — Levi Phillips and
Aiden Wolf has six points each
during the game-sealing rally,
with a jumper by Wolf putting
Weston-McEwen ahead for
good, 47-45, with 3:10 to play.
Wyatt Frost had 12 points to
lead Imbler. He also added 11
rebounds and had four blocked
shots. Jayce Burnette added 11
points and 11 rebounds, and
Herron scored 10 points.
Imbler (2-7 overall) visits
Pine Eagle Friday to begin
Old Oregon League play.
Union 47, Neah-Kah-Nie
36: Keegan Glenn scored
23 points Saturday to boost
Union to a victory in the
consolation fi nal in the Toledo
Holiday Tournament.
Garritt Ritter added seven
points for the Bobcats, who
led at halftime in the low-
scoring affair, 20-14, then
pushed the lead to double
fi gures after three at 32-20 en
route to the victory.
Union (9-4 overall) visits Pi-
lot Rock Friday to open Blue
Mountain Conference play.
Pine Eagle 42, Wallowa
31: The Cougars opened Old
Oregon League play Saturday
with a tough loss on the road.
Wallowa struggled after the
fi rst quarter, seeing a 13-10
lead evaporate and going into
the half down 23-16. The Spar-
tans added to the margin in
the second half for their second
win in a row over the Cougars.
Tristin Bales led the
Cougars with nine points and
Kolby Mandal added eight.
Wallowa (4-7 overall) trav-
els to Elgin Friday to continue
OOL action.
Joseph 53, Country
Christian 25: Chase Murray
and Hadley Miller scored
13 points apiece Saturday
to power the Eagles to their
MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2020
Staff photo by Ronald Bond
Imbler’s Wyatt Frost attempts a shot during Saturday’s
game against Weston-McEwen.
fourth win in a row and sev-
enth in the last eight contests.
Carson Littlepage added 10
points for Joseph, which raced
out to an 11-point fi rst quar-
ter lead, then extended the
margin to 31-13 at halftime
and coasted to the win.
The Eagles (9-3 overall)
host Griswold Friday to begin
Old Oregon League action.
Elgin 69, Four Rivers 26:
Kaden McClure poured in 28
points Saturday as the Huskies
pulled away after the first quar-
ter for a dominant home win.
Elgin outscored the Falcons
22-4 in the second quarter to
break the game open and take
a 38-14 lead and cruised in
the second half.
McClure had 14 points
in each half for Elgin, while
Gage McKay added 16 points
and Tristan Simpson chipped
in with 11.
The Huskies (5-5 overall)
open Old Oregon League play
Friday when they host Wallowa.
Powder Valley 69, Coun-
cil, Idaho 53: Reece Dixon
scored 21 points Saturday to
lead three Badgers in double
fi gures as Powder Valley
secured a road win
Moziss Nesser added 18
points and Ethan Stephens
scored 16 for the Badgers,
who avenged an earlier loss to
Council. Powder Valley held a
seven-point halftime lead, then
broke the game open with a
19-7 run in the third quarter
to take a 52-33 advantage.
The Badgers (8-3 overall)
host Nixyaawii Friday to be-
gin Old Oregon League play.
Adrian 54, Cove 27: In a
rematch of a game played in
December, the Leopards were
unable to keep up with Adrian
as they lost on the road.
Stats were not available
for Cove (1-9 overall), which
opens Old Oregon League play
Saturday at Powder Valley.
WOMEN
Continued from Page 6A
points in the fi rst half, went
into the break ahead 35-32
on a late 3-pointer by Sarah
Reinecker.
The Mountaineers
responded to open the third
quarter and seemed to be
in control, as a 10-2 run —
capped by fi eld goals from
Taylor Stricklin, Still and
Jill Albright — gave EOU
its largest lead at 45-37 with
4:12 to play in the quarter.
McKinney had a late basket
to trim the EOU lead to 49-
46 after three, and she had a
tying fi eld goal in the fourth
to knot the score at 51-51
with 7:40 to play.
Stricklin, Albright and
Meier all scored during a wild
minute of back-and-forth
action, with Meier’s steal and
layup giving Eastern a 60-57
lead with 4:04 remaining
before McKinney took over.
“She’s a go-to player,” Weis-
senfl uh said of McKinney.
“She’s a difference maker. She’s
one of the top three players in
the conference hands down.
She’s tough. She can beat you
(in) a lot of ways.”
Neither team was sharp
from 3-point range, with
EOU going 6-for-24 and NCU
hitting at a 6-for-21 clip.
Rachel Fielder led East-
ern with 14 points and
also grabbed six rebounds.
Stricklin added eight points,
and Beverly Slater had seven
points and a game-high 11
boards. Still had seven points,
and Emma Logan had a
game-high eight assists.
The Mountaineers dropped
a second consecutive home
game Saturday, and third in
a row overall, with a 68-57
loss to Corban.
The teams entered the
fourth quarter tied at 46-46,
but the Warriors opened the
fi nal period with an 11-2
run to go ahead 57-48 on a
Shawnie Spink 3-pointer
with 4:46 to play. Stricklin
countered with a 3 for EOU
to end the run, but the Moun-
taineers pulled no closer the
rest of the way.
Jane Nelson and Madi-
son Crews led EOU with
15 points each, and Fielder
added seven points.
Jordan Woodvine led Cor-
ban with 22 points.
EOU (9-7 overall, 3-3 CCC)
visits Evergreen State Col-
lege Friday.
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