Sports
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
B3
PANTHERS
Continued from Page B1
From there, Hitz, Wilson
and Burke kept the team’s mo-
mentum up for the 10-point
win.
“At the beginning of the
season, the kids had one
goal,” Gill said. “They just
wanted Prairie City to be
represented at state. It’s way
sweeter to go through tough
things and still reach their
goal.”
He highlighted Brandon’s
steal for three points as the
“play of the season” and said
it was also Wilson’s 20 points
in the game and Hitz’s lead-
ership that brought the vic-
tory.
“We played hard and ag-
gressively,” Burke said. “I
have to give it to the team,
because we fought really
hard this time. We’ve never
had that type of environment
(with loud and enthusiastic
fans), and we gave the crowd
what they wanted — on to
state.”
“We knew if we fought
the best we could, we would
win,” said Lane Williams.
“It feels awesome to go to
state,” said Wyatt Williams.
“It was defi nitely teamwork,
especially since we lost one of
our starters, Ethan Camarena.
We banded together and gave
him another chance to play on
Wednesday.”
In their fi rst game at the
tournament, the Prairie City
Panthers elevated their game
in the fourth quarter to claim
a 48-41 victory over the Adri-
an Antelopes, then they took a
35-47 loss in their next game
to top-seeded team, Jordan
Valley.
Although the Panthers
were disheartened with that
loss — a win would have
pitted them against Dayville/
Monument, their cross-county
competitors in the champion-
ship game — they said they’re
looking forward to their fi rst
state playoff game in recent
years.
The Joseph Eagles (15-9,
9-3) are No. 21 in the OSAA
rankings, while the Panthers
(16-11, 5-7) are No. 31.
Gill said his team has pro-
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Prairie City Panther Garrett Hitz grabs a defensive
rebound, his teammate Dorran Wilson (3) is in the
action in last Friday’s game against Jordan Valley
at Grant Union Junior-Senior High School in John
Day.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Prairie City Panther Wyatt Williams (12) gets in the path of a Jordan Valley
player in last Friday’s game.
Let our family of Pharmacists
serve you!
Need help with auto insurance?
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Prairie City Panther
Garrett Hitz focuses in
to score over the Jordan
Valley Mustang defense.
gressed over the season and
they are a team that uses their
“heads and their hearts.”
Receiving All-Tournament
honors were sophomore Dor-
ran Wilson and senior Garrett
Hitz, fi rst team; and freshman
Levi Burke, second team.
Suspension, DUII, tickets,
no insurance?
Let us at Consumer Insurance Services
get you going!
Give us a call today
541-676-9158 - Heppner
541-384-2801 - Condon
We welcome the opportunity to visit with
you about our services!
Bend: 541-383-1733
Redmond: 541-504-2134
Toll Free: 1-888-898-sr22
Heppner & Condon