Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, January 6, 2016 SPORTS SCHEDULE Friday, Jan. 8 WEDNESDAY January 6, 2016 Grant Union basketball @ Union in Union, JV games begin at 3 p.m., followed by varsity Grant Union Dayville/ Monument basketball vs. Burnt River in Monument, girls 6 p.m./ boys 7:30 p.m. Long Creek Prairie City basketball vs. Harper/ Huntington in Prairie City, girls 6 p.m./boys 7:30 p.m. Dayville/Monument Prairie City Grant Union wrestling @ Riverside Duals in Boardman, starts at 5 p.m. A11 Saturday, Jan. 9 Grant Union basketball vs. Elgin in John Day, JV games begin at 1 p.m. followed by varsity Grant Union wrestling @ Riverside Duals in Board- man, starts at 10 a.m. Prairie City basketball @ Long Creek/Ukiah in Long Creek, 2 p.m. girls/3:30 p.m. boys Dayville/Monument bas- ketball @ Harper/Hunting- ton in Harper, girls 5 p.m. (MT)/6:30 p.m. (MT) The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Defensive pressure from Grant Union players, including Kaylee Wright (15) Kori Pentzer (23), Jozie Rude (20), Whitney McClellen (24) and Samantha Brock (3), left Enterprise player Riley Gray (31) with few options in Saturday’s game. The Prospectors won the first league game of the season 61-34. WIN RINGS IN THE NEW YEAR AT GU Lady Pros take down Enterprise Outlaws, 61-34 Boy Pros team arrests Outlaws in 77-39 win Prospectors start 2016 with first league win By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY — The Grant Union Prospector boys took control of their ¿ rst league game from the start, top- pling the Enterprise Outlaws 77-39 last Saturday. While the Prospectors stayed on top, leading 18-5 in the ¿ rst Tuarter and 34-18 in the second, they picked up the pace in the ¿ nal period. “I saw great improvement in the second half, defensively and offensive- ly,” said head coach Steve Speth. “We moved the ball better and ¿ nished our shots.” See PROS, Page A18 By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY — The Grant Union Lady Pros- pectors started league play Saturday, Jan. 2, on a positive note — a 61-34 win over the Enterprise Outlaws. The game, played at Grant Union, had a slow start for the home team as the Lady Outlaws put seven points on the board before the Prospectors ¿ red up. As soon as Grant Union warmed up, they took the lead and didn’t look back. .ori Pent]er led the team in the ¿ rst Tuarter with 13 points, followed by Heather Mosley with 5, Kaylee Wright 3 and Mariah Moulton 2. The Prospectors led 21-10 in the ¿ rst and closed out the second, 33-20. Head coach Mark Mosley gave the Outlaws credit for a competitive game. “I call them a dangerous team,” he said. “They can hang around — they’ve got size and shoot the ball well.” Grant Union also had their offensive game on, and defense helped win the contest. “We shot the ball really well tonight,” coach Mosley said of his team. “We didn’t do a good job on the boards tonight, rebounding — that’s some- thing we’ve got to improve on.” He added, “We emphasized deÀ ections tonight on defense, and had 16 steals.” Outlaw player Darby Gassett, a 5-foot-5 ju- nior, scored two 3-pointers in the game. Pentzer and Heather Mosley had one three- point shot each. Heather said she was happy with the night’s outcome. “I thought we played really good defense and shut them down inside,” she said. “It was a good game, and it was fun.” Last week, Dec. 28-30, Grant Union compet- ed at the Central Linn Holiday Tournament in Halsey, taking two wins and a loss for third place. On day one of the tournament, the Prospectors ran over Toledo, 66-15. Then came their big test against the Monroe Dragons. The nail-biter had Grant Union taking a 57-59 loss. “It was an awesome game to be involved in,” coach Mosley said. “It was very intense, right to the wire. As a game it could have gone either way — it went extremely well.” The Prospectors toppled Oakridge 66-30 in their ¿ nal game. Grant Union hosted the Burns Hilanders on The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector Kori Pentzer (23, white and red) flies up to score over the reach of Enterprise defense, her teammate Kenzie Wilson (12) in the action. Enterprise players are Eliza Irish (23) and Ashley Exon (43). Tuesday, past press time. On Friday, the Prospec- tors travel to Union for a 6 p.m. game, and they host Elgin on Saturday at 4 p.m. The stats GU girls vs. Enterprise Kori Pentzer: 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals Kaylee Wright: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals Heather Mosley: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal Mariah Moulton: 11 points, 2 rebounds, 4 steals Kenzie Wilson: 7 points, 2 steals Jozie Rude: 1 point, 3 rebounds Samantha Brock: 2 rebounds, 1 steal Hailie Wright: 1 rebound Panther teams fall in Badger basketball battle Prairie City hosts Hornets Friday in league play By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector Zack Deiter lays in a shot under pressure from the Enterprise Outlaws in Saturday’s game. PRAIRIE CITY — The Prairie City Panther girls and boys teams each took a loss to Powder Valley in hoops ac- tion Saturday. The teams now look forward to their ¿ rst league games Friday, as they host Harper/Huntington with girls varsity beginning at 6 p.m. The Prairie City girls lost Saturday 23-44 to a strong Powder Valley push. Head coach Penny Black said, while the Powder Valley game was tough, her team didn’t back down. “Powder Valley has some really athletic girls, and they had a pretty ¿ erce press,” she said. “They knew if they pres- sured us, they would get a lot of turnovers. We got a lot of good shots in the paint, but they didn’t fall.” Black said her team picked up their energy in the fourth. “The girls didn’t give up,” she said. The battle will only help Prairie City as they prepare to host Harper/Huntington in their ¿ rst league game on Friday. The Lady Panthers beat Harper/Huntington 35-33 earli- er in the season at the Union Christmas Classic. “In that game we played everyone, and I think we’ll play them pretty strong,” Black said. The Prairie City boys were defeated 45-63 last Saturday. Panther boys head coach Jonathon Gill said his team was hampered by the À u season. “I want to commend those kids for coming together de- spite some of the obstacles,” he said. He said the game was back and forth for the most part, but missing 11 of 15 free throws was the deciding factor in the loss. “We’re excited for league play for the rest of the season Prairie City Panther Brianna Zweygardt (20) moves upward for the tip in Saturday’s game against Powder Valley. — it now goes to another level,” he said. “Our goal is to be one of the three teams to represent the High Desert League for the state tournament.” He added, “We have a great opportunity to reach our goal, and it starts Friday night.” The Prairie City teams travel to Long Creek on Saturday to face Long Creek/Ukiah with the girls game beginning at 2 p.m. Contributed photos/Nancy Hitz Prairie City Panther Ethan Camarena battles in Saturday’s game against Powder Valley.