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