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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2016)
A10 WEDNESDAY March 2, 2016 Tigers close out successful season at home court Hosanna Christian, 67 Dayville/Monument, 64 By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector Kori Pentzer in action against the Neah-Kah-Nie Pirates during last Saturday’s Round One state playoff game held at Grant Union. GU girls advance to quarteri nals Lady Pros sink Pirates 47- 13 in Round One By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY — Grant Union Prospector girls earned a trip to this week’s OSAA 2A State Bas- ketEall &haPpionship 7ournaPent Tuarter¿ nals after overpowering the Neah-Kah -Nie Pirates - last )rida\ in the ¿ rst round The Prospectors will compete against the Burns Hilanders at pm Thursda\ at Pend- leton High School The last time Grant Union met up with Burns was at the Wapiti District Tournament champion- ship game in La Grande where the Prospectors pla\ed a close game Eut lost E\ three Prospector head coach Mark Mosley said that game shows his team competes at the same level with the Hilanders — Burns 2-2 is No in OSAA rankings and Grant Union - is No The Lady Pros came out on ¿ re on )riday hosting the Neah-Kah-Nie Pirates of Rockaway Beach at the Grant Union court Grant Union applied strong defensive pres- sure from the start of the game and throughout Prospector Kori Pent]er had a steal in the ¿ rst few minutes of play, as well as Prospector Sa- mantha Brock who took it to the hoop Grant Union’s Heather Mosley had the ¿ rst two points on the scoreboard, followed by a per- fect two at the free-throw line, and Brock add- ed four points before the Pirates’ Caitlyn Scull scored The ¿ rst Tuarter ended -, Scull scoring four for the Pirates For Grant Union, Mosley had four, Brock four, and Mariah Moulton hit one of two at the free-throw line See GIRLS, Page A11 By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle PORTLAND — Three Grant Union wrestlers, Clay Johnson, Andrew Copenhaver and Antonio Dancer, made their appearance at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Col- iseum last week for the OSAA State Wrestling Championship Johnson and Copenhaver made it to the podium, placing fourth “We wrestled well,” said Grant Union head coach Andy Lusco “All three of our wrestlers were put out of the championship side of the bracket by the state champions of their respective brackets — there are no easy wins at state” On Day One of the tournament, Friday, Clay Johnson (132) defeated Nathan Heitzman of Gilchrist, 8 to in his ¿ rst round, then lost in the Tuarter¿ nals “Clay had a very tough bracket,” Lusco said He won once on the consolation side of the bracket before losing by decision in the third-place match Andrew Copenhaver (152) wres- tled strong all three rounds against ¿ rst seed Thomas Harvey of Low- ell, losing 4-2 in a close match and went on to win the consolation Tuarter¿ nal, beating Cody Allphin of ChiloTuin “Andrew came in as the eighth seed and wrestled very well to ¿ n- ish fourth overall,” Lusco said “He lost a 4-2 decision to the No 1 seed, then won two more matches before losing in the third place match” Antonio Dancer (138) won 5 to 3 over Devin Lichte of Reedsport on Day One, then went on to lose twice “He wrestled hard and performed well for his ¿ rst trip to state,” Lusco said He said the fact that each of the three found a way to win at least one match at state is highly commend- able See WRESTLERS, Page A11 See TIGERS, Page A11 Prairie City boys end season at state playoffs Joseph, 53 Prairie City, 45 By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector Kenzie Wilson (12, white uniform) pushes past Neah- Kah-Nie Pirate Alaina Holm. Two Grant Union wrestlers make podium at state Coach: State run represents years of hard work DAYVILLE — The Dayville/ Monument Tigers’ season came to an unsettling end at the Dayville School basketball court last Saturday after los- ing their Round One state playoff game 64-67 to the Hosanna Christian Lions in overtime Seconds were ticking down in regu- lation time, the scored tied 55-55, when Dayville/Monument’s Jordan Bowlus sank a three-point shot at the buzzer The Tiger fans, coach and players cheered, believing they had just won the game — some fans sprang in cele- bration onto the court However, after referees chatted, the clock was set for overtime play The teams were evenly matched, the Tigers No 7 in OSAA rankings with a 21-6 overall record, and the Lions No with a 25-4 record The Tigers won the Feb 2 cham- pionship game of the High Desert Dis- trict Tournament; the Lions, of Klamath Falls, placed second in the Mountain Valley League Five Tiger starters played start to ¿ nish in last week’s game — Dakota Emerson, Tanner Moodenbaugh, Jor- dan Bowlus, Hayden Schafer and Tan- ner Walczyk — led by four-year head coach Jeff Schafer Dayville/Monument had a slow start, trailing by a couple points, and the Lions steadily increased their lead by 1 The Tigers made a comeback with Emerson sinking a three-point bucket, followed by 2 points from Mooden- baugh After Lion player Nicco Bustaman- te came up empty at the free-throw line, 138 left, Bowlus hit a three-pointer Contributed photo/Angie Johnson Grant Union wrestler Andrew Copenhaver speaks with assistant coach Tye Parsons last Friday at the state wrestling tournament held at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. JOSEPH — The Prairie City Pan- thers closed a whirlwind season with a 45-53 loss to the Joseph Eagles Feb 24 in Round One of the state playoffs It’s the ¿ rst year since 27 that the Panther boys made it to the state play- offs, said Prairie City athletic director Billy Colson The Panthers were led this season by ¿ rst-year head coach Jonathon Gill, and assistant coaches Bob Hassmiller and Charles Lawrence The Prairie City team entered a noisy, intense atmosphere at the Joseph High gym — the Eagles had a large fan base and a pep band Prairie City also brought plenty of fans, including fami- ly, friends, the girls basketball team and other community members Joseph got off to a quick start, which likely won the game for them, as Prairie City was neck and neck with them the rest of the way The ¿ rst period ended with Joseph leading 14-6 “That ¿ rst quarter got us due to their fan base — it rattled us,” said head coach Jonathon Gill “That was one of the keys” With even scoring in the second, Jo- seph still led 25-17 Prairie City outshot the Eagles 13- 11 in the third, trailing 3-36 “There was a moment in the game, where Joseph increased the lead by 16 in the third quarter, and we got it as close as four,” Gill said “We just could never break through” He said he gives credit to Joseph who came prepared “They had a very good game plan and e[ecuted it very well,” Gill said See PANTHERS, Page A11
