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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2016)
B2 Sports Blue Mountain Eagle GU boys lose district battles Despite loss, coach calls team ‘top in the state’ By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Contributed photo/Tanni Wenger Photography Grant Union Prospectors Wade Reimers (12) and Clayton Vaughan (25) disrupt an Imbler shooter. LA GRANDE — Compe- tition for the Grant Union boys at the 2A Wapiti District Tour- nament was explosive, and the Prospectors came out on the losing end with a 50-56 loss to Imbler and a 44-46 loss to Union. The Prospectors beat Imbler twice in the regular season, but struggled Friday for their third meeting. Head coach Steve Speth described the game as “close, intense and physical.” corner’s the SH T HOT EEK OF THE W S KYLAR P OWELL School: Dayville “The boys played well at times and struggled at times as well,” he said. “We had more turnovers than normal through- out the game.” The teams were tied at the half. Grant Union scored right away in the third, but Imbler then made a big run. Play went back and forth the entire game. “In the end, we weren’t able to make enough plays to win,” Speth said. “We cost ourselves by missing several free throws and lay-ups, which ended up being the difference in the game.” Imbler continued Saturday, blowing out Burns to win the district title. Grant Union had another physical game competing with Union on Saturday. The Prospectors struggled with turnovers, but were able to open up a 23-16 lead with a good run in the second quarter. “Union made a late charge in the last minute to pull to within one at the half,” Speth said. Scoring went back and forth, then Union gained a four- point lead late, forcing Grant Union to foul. “(It was a) very disappoint- ing end to what was a very good season,” Speth said. “I still believe we are one of the top teams in the state, but be- Wednesday, February 24, 2016 said coach Schafer. “The boys fought through it and de- served the win.” The Tigers took a solid 68-43 victory over Crane on Friday, leading up to the championship game. “The whole season, they worked as a team, and they finished as a team,” Schafer said Saturday night. He said the feeling of winning the tournament was “indescribable.” The three Tiger seniors have played basketball to- gether, with coach Scha- fer leading them, for eight years — four years on the Monument junior high team and four years on the Day- ville/Monument high school team. Hayden Schafer, a ju- nior, has also played for the coach seven years. Moodenbaugh said team- work and dedication helped them win. “Without my team, we wouldn’t be here,” he said. “They’re a great group of guys, and I’m happy to bring the board home with them, especially for my senior year.” Walczyk was also happy with the team. “We played tough,” he said. “We shot good and played good team ball. I couldn’t ask for a better team.” Hayden Schafer said their good attitudes helped with the win — “teamwork and pushing through their (Jor- dan Valley’s) runs,” he said. “The board was our goal at the start of the year, and we just wanted to have fun and play as a team,” said Emerson. “We played good, and we shared the ball really well,” Bowlus said. “We focused on team ball, and we got the win. It feels so good — we kept our heads and kept try- ing, and playing our brand of basketball.” Receiving All-Tourna- ment honors for Dayville/ Monument boys were senior Dakota Emerson and junior Hayden Schafer, named to the first team. Placing third in the boys tournament was the Prairie City Panther team, which also received the Sportsman- ship Award. For the girls, Adrian earned first, Crane second and Jordan Valley third. Jordan Valley won the Sportsmanship Award for the girls. The last time Dayville/ Monument hosted a state playoff game was in 2012. For more information about Saturday’s game, call Dayville School at 541-987- 2412 or Monument School at 541-934-2646. at the end.” Scoring was led by Pentzer with 13, followed by Mariah Moulton 11, Heather Mosley eight, Kenzie Wilson six, Sa- mantha Brock fi ve and Kaylee Wright four. He said Burns is consid- ered, among some, the favor- ite to win the state champion- ship. However, he added, “Com- peting against them proves that we’re right in there and at that level as well.” Brock, a senior, said the team was happy to reach one of their goals, which was hosting a state playoff game. “We played well against both Imbler and Burns,” she said. “We worked together re- ally well. It was fun to leave everything on the court and play our game.” “We’re defi nitely excited for this post season,” Pentzer said. “We played sick, so that was defi nitely a setback, but we’re getting healed and ready to beat them. We should have them in the fi rst round at the state tournament. It was disappointing to lose the dis- trict championship, but we’ll beat them at state where it matters.” Selected for All-League honors were Pentzer, a soph- omore, and junior Heather Mosley, fi rst team; and senior Kenzie Wilson, second team. TIGERS Continued from Page B1 Contributed photo/Tanni Wenger Photography Grant Union Prospector Zack Deiter on defense at the district tournament last Friday against Imbler. cause of the way the OSAA has the playoffs set up and because our league is so diffi cult, we are not going to the state playoffs.” All-League honors went to seniors Wyatt Weaver and Na- than Gehley, fi rst team; senior Trace Gill, second team; and sophomore Wade Reimers, honorable mention. The stats GU vs. Imbler Player/points/rebounds/steals/assists Nathan Gehley: 17/7/0/2 Wade Reimers: 9/6/0/0 Zack Deiter: 9/4/1/0 Wyatt Weaver: 6/4/3/3 Duane Stokes: 4/0/0/0 Clayton Vaughan: 3/2/0/3 Cauy Weaver: 2/4/0/1 Ricky Weickum: 0/1/0/1 GU vs. Union Reimers: 17/5/0/2 Gehley: 9/5/2/1 Deiter: 7/1/0/0 Weickum: 3/2/1/1 Vaughan: 3/1/1/0 Stokes: 3/0/1/1 Wyatt Weaver: 2/6/2/3 Cauy Weaver: 0/6/3/2 Grade: 11 Parents: Russ and Margee Powell Sport: Basketball What I like best about my sport: “Basketball is my favorite sport. I love being able to play with my team and play the sport that I love.” Coach’s Comment: “Skylar always works hard. She’s very coachable, and she’s a kid I can depend upon on the court at all times.” - Coach Taylor Schamedeka Proud sponsor of Grant County athletes 100 E. Main • Stoplight in John Day • 541-792-0425 03518 LADY PROS Continued from Page B1 game. Coach Mosley said he was concerned a couple start- ers might not feel well enough to play against Imbler, but the girls pushed through to help the team win. “Kori (Pentzer) and Heath- er were both really sick, so to come out and get the victory, being sick all week, was a tre- mendous effort,” he said. The championship vs. Burns Mosley said, although they took a 49-53 loss to Burns in the district championship game, his team had an out- standing performance. “The girls played extreme- ly hard from start to fi nish,” he said. Grant Union gave up some costly offensive rebounds in the fi rst half. With four minutes left in the game, the Lady Pros gained the lead, but allowed a couple turnovers down the stretch. “We did overcome that and gave ourselves a chance to win the game,” Mosley said. “With less than a minute left, we still had a chance to make it a one-possession game, but we were forced to foul, and they hit a couple free throws
