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
