B10
Sports
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
S PORTS R OUNDUP
Lady Tigers
corral Bulls in
final regular
season contest
The Monument/Dayville
Tiger girls had a good han-
dle on the Burnt River Bulls
from the start Saturday,
claiming a 29-11 victory.
The Tigers had a com-
manding 18-0 lead in the
first quarter.
“We utilized our fast
breaks and speed to get some
good shots in the key,” Tiger
head coach Taylor Schmade-
ka said. “Our defense did a
great job making them take
harder shots than they want-
ed to.”
The Tigers outscored the
Bulls 5-2 in the second and
6-4 in the third.
Leading the Tigers in
scoring were Kyla Emerson
with 8 and Faythe Schafer
with 7. Danielle Rhoda had
seven steals.
Younger Tiger team mem-
bers came off the bench, and
Schmadeka said this could
help the team at this week’s
1A-8 High Desert District
Eagle file photo
The Grant Union Gold dance team performs Jan. 26 during halftime at a Prospector basketball game in John Day.
Tournament set for Thurs-
day through Saturday at the
Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School in John Day.
Monument/Dayville,
seeded fifth in the tour-
nament, will face the
third-seeded Adrian Ante-
lopes at 7 p.m. Thursday in
the first round of the play-
offs.
“They always run a tough
full-court press and half-
court trap,” Schmadeka said.
“We will be preparing for
that and working on our of-
fensive shooting.
“To make it to state, we
have one of the toughest
paths because we are lower
on the rankings, but I think
the girls are ready for the
challenge.”
Tiger boys fired
up at Burnt River
The Monument/Dayville
Tiger boys and Burnt Riv-
er Bulls made Saturday’s
game an exciting one, going
into overtime, but the Ti-
gers came out strong in the
extra minutes for a 57-49
win.
Tiger head coach Jeff
Schafer said his team started
off slow, while Burnt River
sank their shots.
“They came together as a
team right at the end,” Scha-
fer said.
Monument/Dayville was
down by one point with
0.1 seconds left, when Ti-
ger Donovan Schafer was
fouled.
“He made a free throw to
tie the game, and we went
into overtime,” coach Scha-
fer said. “They did good.
They’re still learning the ba-
sics, but we’re looking for-
ward to districts.”
The No. 7-seeded Ti-
ger boys will face the No.
3-seeded Adrian Antelopes
in the first round of playoff
games at 8:45 p.m. Thurs-
day at the 1A-8 High Desert
District Tournament. The
competition will be held
at Grant Union Junior-Se-
nior High School in John
Day. The winner will face
Prairie City at 2:45 p.m.
Friday.
Grant Union
Gold competes
military-style in
Tigard
The Grant Union Gold
dance team is diving into
choreography and technique
after competing at Satur-
day’s dance competition in
Tigard.
Grant Union head coach
Kattie Piazza said they had
made several choreography
changes before presenting
the routine last weekend.
“The judges responded
well, so we’re on the up-
swing,” Piazza said.
Grant Union placed
fourth out of four in their
4A/3A/2A/1A division.
The team unveiled the
performance for the local
crowd on Thursday, danc-
ing during halftime at the
Grant Union boys basketball
game.
“The girls are working
hard and having a lot of
fun out there,” Piazza said.
“Our routine as a whole
gets good response from our
audience and other dance
teams.”
Grant Union Gold’s rou-
tine for state competition
this season is set to Katy
Perry’s song “Rise.”
37758
“This year we have a
slight military approach,
with black Army hats and
camo tops and black shorts,”
Piazza said, adding the look
is topped with “intense”
makeup.
“They look like they’re
covered in dirt,” she said,
adding, “The whole point
of the song is about pushing
and fighting towards a goal
to come out victorious.”
Grant Union takes a two-
week break before compet-
ing on March 24 in Pendle-
ton.
The next opportunity for
the local crowd to catch the
Grant Union Gold will be the
Spring Showcase scheduled
for 7 p.m. Friday, March 9,
at the Grant Union new gym.
A taco feed is in the planning
stages to take place just be-
fore the show.
The dance team includes
14 members, but one dancer
has been unable to perform
due to injury.
“They’re working real-
ly hard and responding to
all the judges’ comments
and taking it to heart,” Pi-
azza said. “They’re just
pouring their hearts out this
season.”
Mountain Lion
junior varsity
teams plan for
varsity next
season
The Ukiah/Long Creek
junior varsity boys ended
their season with a 12-6 re-
cord.
Although they ended on a
down note with a 57-51 loss
to the Mustangs on Friday in
Crane, the Mountain Lions
made it a close contest. The
Mountain Lions had the lead
a few times.
“They boys played hard
but just ran out of time,” said
Ukiah/Long Creek coach
TC Conner. “We got decent
looks but just missed shots
we have made in these last
few games.”
Amos Studtmann, who
co-coaches with Conner,
said their outside shots
weren’t falling, and a lot of
pushing occurred, in both
directions, which made their
inside shots tough.
In the third quarter, one
of their top players was
benched due to foul trouble,
which hampered the Moun-
tain Lions further.
The team is losing some
talented team members who
are exchange students, but
Studtmann said they have a
solid core of players.
He and Conner plan to
advance the boys and girls
teams to the varsity level
next season.
Returning
boys
in-
clude James Kreamier, Ben
Combs, Thomas Kreamier,
Aaron Garinger and Quinton
Orr.
The Ukiah/Long Creek
girls were short-handed on
Saturday against Crane,
the Mountain Lions tak-
ing a 40-10 loss to the
Mustangs.
Two of the top Mountain
Lion players, Gladys John-
son and Dorotha Johnson,
had to sit out most of Sat-
urday’s game against Crane,
one with an injury and the
other due to fouls.
The team was also miss-
ing two other teammates.
“Our younger players,
exchange girls, did well,”
Studtmann said, adding they
had a hard time rebounding
over Crane’s tall girls and
had difficulty finding the
basket.
He hopes to have five
girls back next season, in-
cluding the Johnsons, Jenny
Kim, Lucchese Douglas and
Tesla Crown.
“With the girls, at the be-
ginning, we said we’re start-
ing with the end in mind,”
Studtmann said. “This year
our goal was building a
foundation and picking up
momentum and experience
going forward.”
If they are able to move
up to varsity next season,
Studtmann said it could be a
rough first season.
“We’re going into varsity
to grow,” he said. “For me,
basketball is not about win-
ning every game, but about
using sport to reveal and de-
velop character.”