A8
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
WEDNESDAY
January 13, 2016
SPORTS
SCHEDULE
Friday, Jan. 15
Grant Union wrestling @
Redmond Classic in Red-
mond, begins at 8 a.m.
Prairie City basketball teams
overtake Harper/Huntington
Grant Union basketball
vs. Imbler in John Day, JV
games begin at 3 p.m.
Blue Mountain Eagle
Long Creek
Long Creek/
Ukiah JV @
Harper/Hun-
tington in
Huntington,
games begin
7 p.m. (MT)
By Angel Carpenter
Grant Union
Dayville/
Monument
basketball @
Jordan Val-
ley in Jordan
Valley, varsi-
ty begins at 6
p.m. (MT)
First league contests
are a success
Dayville/Monument
Prairie City
Prairie City
basketball
@ Adrian in
Adrian, varsi-
ty begins at
7:30 p.m. (MT)
Saturday, Jan. 16
Grant Union wrestling @
Redmond Classic in Red-
mond, begins at 10 a.m.
Grant Union basketball
vs. Cove in John Day, JV
games begin at 1 p.m.
Prairie City basketball vs.
Burnt River in Prairie City,
varsity begins at 3:30 pm.
Dayville/Monument bas-
ketball @ Adrian in Adrian,
varsity begins at 2 p.m. (MT)
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
PRAIRIE CITY — The Prairie
City Panther girls and boys basket-
ball teams hosted Harper/Hunting-
ton last Friday with the local teams
claiming victory.
The Lady Panthers kept a steady
lead, taking a 38-23 win.
Prairie City ¿ nished the ¿ rst half
23-13.
Near the end of the third quarter,
the Hornets, trailing by seven, tried
closing in, but Prairie City jumped
ahead. Amaya Zweygardt added two
free throws, Sarah Ennis scored and,
with seconds left, Zweygardt scored
to end the third 33-20.
“I’m very happy,” said head
coach Penny Black. “Offensively,
they did really well moving the ball.
We left some easy shots out there,
but we shot better as a team — it
was a total team effort. Our goal was
to play intense defense the whole
game.”
“I thought we did pretty good,”
said Panther Cassie Hire. “We didn’t
shoot as good as we could have. We
will work hard for the next games.”
“We practiced hard all week and
it showed,” said Brianna Zweygardt.
“We read the defense and got the
open looks needed.”
The Prairie City boys toppled the
Hornets, 59-40.
The Panthers had 13 points on
the scoreboard before Harper/Hun-
tington scored a three-point shot.
Prairie City Panther Brianna Zweygardt (20) lays up a shot last Friday against Harper/
Huntington, her teammate Amaya Zweygardt (2) in the action.
See PC, Page A9
Lady Panthers show competitive spirit
Team faces tough
league foes this
season
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
PRAIRIE CITY — In her 12th year
coaching Prairie City girls basketball, Pen-
ny Black challenges her team in practice to
increase their game speed and intensity.
“The advice I give them is to chal-
lenge the next person as hard as you can
— guarding and offense — to be in attack
mode, and go 100 percent,” she said.
Attack mode may be just what it takes
to conquer league opponents this season.
Other members of the 1A High Desert
League are: Crane, Jordan Valley, Adri-
an, Dayville/Monument, Harper/Hun-
tington and Burnt River.
“We have one of the tougher leagues
in state,” Black said. “Crane, Jordan Val-
ley and Adrian are state contenders in our
league.”
She added Dayville/Monument will
also be a tough competitor this season,
and Crane has a good chance to win the
state championship this year.
So far, the Panthers are 5-4 overall,
and 1-0 in league, after beating Harper/
Huntington last Friday.
One speci¿ c goal the team is working
on is improving defense to slow their
opponents’ scoring.
“I believe we have the athletes to
compete,” Black said. “We’ve got a lot
of length in the arms and legs, and they
work hard.”
Black’s assistant coach is Brook Wil-
liams, and Amber Ford is the condition-
ing coach.
Last week, the team was focused on
hand-eye coordination drills and building
muscle strength, and the group also prac-
tices yoga.
“Yoga helps them focus on their bod-
ies and helps prevent injury,” Black said.
Ford added the exercise also promotes
mobility.
See SPIRIT, Page A9
Prospectors leash Huskies at home
Grant Union teams split
wins on the road
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — The Grant Union Pros-
pectors girls and boys teams came out
ready to win last Saturday, hosting the El-
gin Huskies.
The Lady Prospectors won 47-22, and
the boys team, 81-42.
The Grant Union girls also beat Union,
49-26, on the road the previous night.
Head coach Mark Mosley said the game
against Elgin provided a good opportunity
to give all his players time on the court.
The Prospectors went into the fourth
ahead 37-16, and the intensity didn’t let
up.
Scoring was going back and fourth
when Grant Union freshman Kaylee
Wright was injured. She went up to score
and collided with an opponent, hitting the
À oor hard.
Freshman Madi McKrola stepped in
and nailed the free throw.
After the game, coach Mosley said
Wright will be ¿ ne.
See PROS, Page A9
Grant Union Prospector Cauy Weaver goes up to score off an assist from
Trace Gill (back) on Saturday against the Elgin Huskies in John Day.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Eastern Oregon University returns to college wrestling
Blue Mountain Eagle
Eastern Oregon University
is re-establishing its wrestling
program.
State Rep. Greg Smith
(R-Heppner) helped secure a
$300,000 allocation from the
Oregon Legislature to offer
the collegiate sport in Eastern
Oregon.
“Eastern Oregon is home
to many wrestling champions
both on individual and team
levels,” Smith said. “EOU
is unable to attract these ath-
letes who desire to continue
wrestling in college. I believe
wrestling will give EOU an-
other tool for recruitment and
help keep our youth in Eastern
Oregon.”
During the 2015 Legisla-
tive Session, Smith worked
with leadership and a group
called Restore College Wres-
tling to ¿ nd funding to reac-
tivate a wrestling program at
Eastern Oregon University,
which is Eastern Oregon’s
only university.
“Representative
Greg
Smith has been a pivotal per-
son in the effort to restart com-
petitive wrestling at EOU,”
said Dr. Mike Clock, chair of
the Restore College Wrestling
Oregon Committee. “Over the
past 17 years, teams from east
of the Cascades have won al-
most 55 percent of the team ti-
tles. Since the late ’70s, there
have been no geographically
convenient opportunities for
those young individuals to
compete at the college level in
Oregon.”
Smith serves as co-vice
chair of the Joint Ways and
Means Committee and is a
member of the Joint Ways
and Means Subcommittee on
Capital Construction, which
helps appropriate resources
throughout the state. Smith
is also an avid supporter of
wrestling programs through-
out Eastern Oregon and the
father of two-time state cham-
pion, Ryan Smith.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
The Prairie City Lady Panthers, at practice last
Thursday with head coach Penny Black, work on
arm strength and hand-eye coordination.
PC athlete receives All-
State volleyball honor
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
PRAIRIE CITY — Prai-
rie City sophomore Brianna
Zweygardt received All-State
honorable mention for volley-
ball.
Brianna led the team stats in
serving, setting hit/tipping and
blocking.
She’s also been recognized
as Setter of the Year in the 1A
High Desert League the past
two seasons.
Head coach Louanne
Zweygardt said she appreciates
Brianna’s drive to improve her
skills.
“She is willing to put in the
extra time it takes to get to the
next level,” coach Zweygardt
said. “Receiving All-State hon-
orable mention as a sophomore
is a real accomplishment.”
Louanne and assistant coach
Lance Zweygardt, Brianna’s
parents, said they look forward
to what the future holds for
their daughter.
“She is a pleasure to coach,”
Louanne said.
Prairie City
Panther
Brianna
Zweygardt,
a
sophomore,
was
selected for
honorable
mention on
the All-State
team in
volleyball.
In the
photo,
Zweygardt
is in action
at the
October
1A District
Tournament
in John Day.
Eagle file photo