A8 Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, January 31, 2018 WEDNESDAY January 31, 2018 The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospectors Jacob Vaughan (5) and Cole Deiter disrupt Enterprise Outlaw Brett Greenshields (32) as he attempts a basket in Friday’s game in John Day. Prospector Cauy Weaver (10) is on the lookout for a rebound or loose ball. Prospectors halt the Outlaws 66-47 Grant Union remains atop Wapiti League Prospectors Wade Re- imers and Cole Deiter start- ed the second quarter each cashing in a 3-pointer. Then Kellen Shelley nabbed a steal and Jacob Vaughan scored 2. Grant Union led 36-14 at the half, and came back for an even stronger showing in the third. “We were pretty much ready for everything they threw at us,” said Grant Union head coach Kelsy Wright. “We had a pretty aggressive press — we just kind of tweaked it a little bit By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Grant Union Pros- pector boys were strong on both sides of the ball in Friday’s 66-47 win over the Enterprise Outlaws in John Day. Grant Union scored 14 points before Enterprise found the basket and ended the first quarter with a 21-4 lead. See BOYS, Page A9 Prairie City girls split wins Panther JV hosts Ukiah/ Long Creeek JV on Feb. 1 Lady Prospectors rise above Outlaws in 2nd half Grant Union girls are on 6-game win streak By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle P By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Prairie City girls ended their week on a high note after beating the Hun- tington Locomotives 52- 18 on Saturday. Several younger play- ers were in on the action on the road in Huntington. Prairie City learned some lessons after falling to the Jordan Valley Mus- tangs 54-39 on Friday at home. The teams were tied 15-15 in the first quarter, The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector Kaylee Wright (23) jumps in to nab a steal when Enterprise players pass the ball, Hailie Wright (10) in the action. Contributed photo/Cheryl Hoefler Prairie City Panther Emily Ennis (22) races down the court with Jordan Valley Mustang Nicole Terry (33) on her trail in Friday’s game in Prairie City. but Jordan Valley galloped away with a 10-point lead going into the half with aggressive man-to-man de- fense. See SPLIT, Page A9 owerhouse Kaylee Wright struck gold for the Grant Union Lady Prospectors in their 56-52 win over the En- terprise Outlaws on Friday in John Day. Wright led the way with 29 points for the night, followed by Mariah Moulton and Madi McKrola with 7 points each in what was a nail-biter. The Prospectors, on a six- game win streak, are currently ranked No. 4 among OSAA 2A teams, with a 14-3 over- all record, and they’re lead- ing the Wapiti League (5-0), followed by Enterprise (3-1), ranked No. 9. Grant Union was ahead 49-42 going into the final quarter, when Enterprise be- gan creeping up on the Pros- The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector Mariah Wright (2) brings down a rebound in Friday night’s game in John Day, Enterprise Outlaw Reece Christman (25) also reaching for the ball. pectors’ lead. “We played smart at the end. That’s what it boils down to,” said Grant Union head coach Casey Hallgarth. Grant Union held a 17-12 lead in the first quarter. In the second, Enterprise tied it at 20-20 and began pushing forward with a 28-21 lead. Prospectors Marissa Smith, Hailie Wright and Kaylee Wright then combined for 9 points, and the Prospec- tors trailed 32-31 at the half. Kaylee Wright landed a 3-pointer to start the third and added 7 more, Mariah Moul- ton scored 5 and Madi McK- rola added 2, outshooting the Outlaws 24-18. Kaylee Wright said the team worked well together. “It was a great game for us,” she said. “We showed that we’re one of the best teams in the state tonight, and we proved it. We had great de- fensive tips, and our offense was there most of the time.” Enterprise head coach Mike Crawford said the close matchup was competitive and has him eager to face Grant Union again. “We’re both in the top 10,” he said. “I’m excited for both of us and can’t wait for the op- portunity to play them again soon. I believe both of us have an opportunity to make it to the Final 8.” Hallgarth said it was a great game to learn from. “They’re very well- coached,” Hallgarth said of the Outlaws. “They rebound- ed the best, and that’s why they’re a good team — they do the little things right. The girls ground it out, and we did more things right than we did wrong.” On Saturday, Grant Union See GIRLS, Page A9 S PORTS R OUNDUP SPORTS SCHEDULE Thursday, Feb. 1 Prairie City JV basketball vs. Ukiah/Long Creek JV, girls at 6 p.m., boys at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2 Grant Union wrestling @ District Tournament in Joseph at 10 a.m. Monument/Dayville basketball @ Harper, girls at 6 p.m. (MT), boys at 7:30 p.m. (MT) Grant Union basketball vs. Union in John Day, girls at 6 p.m., boys at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3 Grant Union dance @ Stayton dance competition at 11 a.m. Prairie City basketball @ Burnt River in Unity, girls at 2 p.m., boys at 3:30 p.m. Grant Union basketball vs. Imbler, girls at 4 p.m., boys at 5:30 p.m. Monument/Dayville @ Ukiah/ Long Creek JV in Long Creek, girls at 2 p.m., boys at 3:30 p.m. Grant Union wrestlers place 3rd at Pine Eagle Tournament The Grant Union Prospector wrestlers are gearing up for this week’s district tournament after placing third at the Pine Eagle Tour- nament on Saturday. Grant Union will compete at the OSAA 2A/1A Special District 4 Tournament with Adrian, Crane, Elgin, Enterprise, Heppner/Ione, Imbler, Joseph/Wallowa, Pine Ea- gle and Union/Cove. The tourna- ment is set for 10 a.m. Friday in Joseph. Grant Union head coach Andy Lusco said Saturday’s event in Half- way was a small tournament due to teams wrestling at other tourna- ments. Some of his best wrestlers, including those in the 285 weight class, couldn’t compete because of a lack of matches. Lusco said his athletes who did wrestle performed well. Joseph placed first with 104 points, Crane was second with 90 and Grant Union finished third with 87. Union/Cove was 1 point behind Grant Union in fourth with 86. Grant Union also hosted Burns and Crane for duals on Tuesday, Jan. 23. “The duals went pretty well,” Lusco said. “We lost a close dual to Burns 33-42. We defeated Crane 54-18. ... We have improved this season and hope to have a great tournament at districts.” Pine Eagle Tournament Hadley Boethin (182), third place Cameron Hallgarth (170), second Quinten Hallgarth (145), second Logan McCluskey (138), second Braden Spencer (126), second Ben Henry (113), third Monument/ Dayville teams host Huntington and Crane The Monument/Dayville Tiger girls and boys hosted the Hunting- ton Locomotives in Dayville on Friday and the Crane Mustangs in Monument on Saturday in league competition. The Tiger girls pulled out a big win over Huntington, claiming a 49-15 victory, and fell the follow- ing day to Crane 65-15. Crane (7-1 in league, 12-8 overall) is sitting in the No. 2 spot in the High Desert League. Monument/Dayville (2-5, 8-9) is No. 6, and Huntington is No. 8. (0-7, 1-14). Tiger players Courtney Nichols and Miranda Cook filled in for two injured starters last week. “Both did a good job stepping up and playing as hard as they could to fill those open positions,” said Tiger head coach Taylor Schmadeka. The Lady Tigers’ strong de- fense held Huntington to 2 points in the first quarter. Schmadeka said they took ad- vantage of defensive turnovers, converting them into points. Monument/Dayville led 28-11 at the half, and outshot the visitors 10-2 in the third quarter and 11-2 in the fourth. Denali Twehues led the Tigers with 11 points, followed by Faythe Schafer with 10. Miranda Cook scored 9 points, and Schafer and Twehues combined for 11 assists. On Saturday against Crane, Schmadeka said Aubrey Bowlus and Twehues played well in the paint against a good post player. “They both gave me 100 per- cent effort down low and did ex- actly what I asked them to do,” he said. Schmadeka said they played well against a good team. Schafer led the Tigers with 7 points, followed by Twehues with 5 and Cook with 3. The Tiger boys fell to Hunting- ton 62-25 and Crane 66-34. The Tiger boys and girls host- ed Grant Union junior varsity on Tuesday, past press time. They travel to Harper on Friday to face the Hornets, the girls start- ing at 6 p.m. (MT) and the boys at 7:30 p.m. (MT). The Tigers travel to Long Creek Saturday to face the Ukiah/Long Creek junior varsity, the girls at 2 p.m. and boys at 3:30 p.m. Mountain Lion boys pick up three road wins The Ukiah/Long Creek Moun- tain Lion boys and girls teams had a busy travel schedule last week. The boys picked up three vic- tories, and the girls had three loss- es, including a close contest with Burnt River. The Mountain Lion boys had a 47-21 win over Pilot Rock junior varsity on Jan. 23, a 71-50 win over Adrian junior varsity on Fri- day and a 64-45 win over Burnt River on Saturday. Coach Amos Studtmann, who co-coaches with TC Conner, said they had 10 of 11 boys score against Burnt River. “We’re spreading around the experience,” he said. Competing against Pilot Rock and Adrian, Studtmann said the opponents left some of their more experienced players at home. “It allowed us to practice our bench a lot as well as specific ac- tions,” Studtmann said. He said he hopes they’ll face more varsity players in their re- maining games “to get their profi- ciency higher and ready for more difficult games.” The girls were hampered by injuries in their competitions, es- pecially in the final minutes, Studt- mann said. “We’re trying to help the girls with emotional discipline, men- tal focus and not get caught up in what the refs or other players do,” he said. This week, the Mountain Lions face Prairie City on the road Thurs- day with the girls starting at 6 p.m. and boys at 7:30 p.m. The teams will host Monument/ Dayville on Saturday in Long Creek with the girls playing at 2 p.m. and boys at 3:30 p.m. With both teams, Studtmann said he’s “hoping their varsi- ty players have enough quarters available to let our players see what it’s like to compete against higher-level opponents.”