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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2016)
WEDNESDAY February 24, 2016 STATE BOUND! Grant Union, Prairie City and Dayville/Monument teams head to playoffs GU girls host Neah- Kah-Nie in state playoff ‘HEART WIN’ takes Prairie City boys to state Lady Pros win second at Wapiti District Tourney Panthers face Joseph at 6 p.m. Wednesday By Angel Carpenter By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Blue Mountain Eagle LA GRANDE — The Grant Union Pros- pector girls earned a state playoff game at home, after placing second at the OSAA 2A Wapiti District Basketball Tournament held at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. The Prospectors (18-6, 10-2) will host the Neah-Kah-Nie Pi- rates (14-9, 11-3) on Friday at 6 p.m. at Grant Union in John Day. Doors open at 5:20 p.m. Admission to the game is $6 for adults, $4 for students. The Lady Pros are No. 6 in the OSAA rankings, and the Pi- rates are No. 15. The Grant Union girls entered the district tournament last Friday seeded Contributed photo/Tanni second, behind No. Wenger Photography 1-seeded Burns, Grant Union ranked third in state. Prospector The Lady Pros Samantha Brock overpowered the drives down Imbler Panthers on court at the Friday with a 37-25 Wapiti District victory to advance to Tournament last the fi nals. Friday. “It was another great defensive ef- fort,” said head coach Mark Mosley. “We did start slow offensively, but we made good ad- justments in the crucial times, offensively, and they were able to play together.” Grant Union was up 18-9 at the half, hold- ing the Panthers back completely in the second quarter. “In the fi rst half, we didn’t rebound as well as we should have,” Mosley said, adding the rebounding improved in the remainder of the game, allowing them to limit the Panthers’ possessions. In the third, Grant Union outshot Imbler 15-6. The Panthers tried to make a comeback in the fourth, shooting 10 in the quarter to Grant Union’s eight, but the Prospectors took the win. Heather Mosley was high-scorer for the game with 16 points. The team was hampered by illness in that JOHN DAY — The Prairie City Panther boys earned their ticket to a Round One state playoff game, competing against the Joseph Eagles in Joseph at 6 p.m. Wednesday. It was the battle of the decade last Satur- day for the Prairie City Panther boys, as they beat Crane 68-58 to earn third place in the 1A-8 High Desert District Tournament. Head coach Jon- athon Gill called the victory a “heart win” as the team played for Ethan Camarena, a starter who has been out for two weeks, recovering from an injury. “They wanted to do it for Ethan,” Gill said. “I’m super proud of them.” Crane came out to The Eagle/Angel Carpenter a strong start, keep- Prairie City ing ahead of Prairie Panther Brandon City throughout most Gillihan scores of the fi rst quarter, and is fouled but 10 points from during the 1A High Panther Levi Burke, Desert District win two three-pointers over the Crane from Wyatt Williams Mustangs for third. and fi ve points from Garrett Hitz, including three of three from the free-throw line, tied the score 21-21. Williams hit another three-point shot off Hitz’s steal in the second and added another two points and, later, another three. Dorran Wilson also came on fi re, earning 11 points in the quarter. A turning point in the game came when players went to the ground for the ball, a heat- ed moment stirring some excitement from the Prairie City crowd. Shortly after, Panther Brandon Gillihan took a steal and went up for two, was fouled and sank a free throw, further energizing the team and the Prairie City fans. The Panthers went into the second half with a 42-27 lead. Crane outshot Prairie City in the third, 12- 8, but the Panthers still had a healthy 50-39 lead. The Mustangs tried closing the gap in the fourth, coming within two points of the Pan- thers, 54-52. See LADY Pros, Page B2 Contributed photo/Tanni Wenger Photography Grant Union Prospector Heather Mosley (33) gets the tip over Imbler Panther Jacobi Rudd (50) in Friday’s OSAA 2A Wapiti District Tournament. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Dayville/Monument Tiger Tanner Moodenbaugh scores over Jordan Valley defense in last Saturday’s championship game. Dayville-Monument boys host state playoff on Friday Tigers topple Jordan Valley 52-46 for district title By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle J OHN DAY — After winning the district championship, the Dayville/ Monument Tiger boys will host a state playoff game Saturday at their Dayville court. Dayville School athletic director Tiffnie Schmadeka said they’ll know the opponent and time of the game late Wednesday, or Thursday morning. Admission will be $6 for adults and $4 for students. The Dayville/Monument boys earned the OSAA 1A-8 High Desert District bas- ketball title with a 52-46 win Saturday over Jordan Valley at Grant Union Junior-Senior High School in John Day. Led by Tiger head coach Jeff Schafer, the fi ve starters — seniors Dakota Emerson, Tanner Moodenbaugh and Jordan Bowlus and juniors Hayden Schafer and Tanner Walczyk — took on the Mustangs, staying ahead the entire game, with the exception of the fi rst three points of the game. The Tigers were 11-8 over Jordan Valley in the fi rst quarter, and out-shot the Mus- tangs 11-7 in the second. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Dayville/Monument Tiger Dakota Emerson pushes through Jordan Valley defenders on his way to the basket in the championship game. See PANTHERS, Page B3 Dayville/Monument was ahead 39-28 going into the fourth when Jordan Valley started gaining steady momentum. The Mustangs came within two points of the Tiger lead in the fi nal minute of the game. The score was 48-46 with 29 seconds left, when Tiger Hayden Schafer fi red off a three-pointer, and Moodenbaugh added a shot at the free-throw line for the win. “Jordan Valley is a real tough team,” See TIGERS, Page B2 Dayville/Monument Tiger Dakota Emerson (21) breaks away in the hotly contested tournament championship game against the Jordan Valley Mustangs on Saturday. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Prairie City’s Dorran Wilson (3) flies up to sink a bucket for the Panthers.
