Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
A13
WEDNESDAY
February 28, 2018
ON TO STATE
Prairie City boys overtake Powder Valley
Prairie City
faces Sherman
Thursday
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Prairie City Pan-
ther boys climbed out of
a 9-point hole in the third
for a 52-45 victory over the
Powder Valley Badgers in
Saturday night’s round-two
state championship playoff
in Prairie City.
The Panthers advance to
the Thursday through Satur-
day, March 1-3, 1A OSAA
Boys State Championship at
Baker High School.
Prairie City, seeded No.
7, will face the No. 2-seeded
Sherman Huskies of Moro at
8:15 p.m. on Thursday.
Saturday was a night to
remember, ending with the
sound of the Prairie City
bell, used for Panther playoff
wins.
Prairie City heard that
bell last year, but this is the
first time in 20 years the Prai-
rie City boys have punched a
ticket to the state tournament.
This was the third time
Prairie City faced Powder
Valley, the teams splitting
wins in the regular season.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Prairie City Panthers are tough on defense as Powder
Valley’s Hunter Davis attempts to score. Panthers, from
left, are Lucas McKinley (22), Syd Holman (23), Dorran
Wilson (3) and Levi Burke (21).
“It’s a dogfight every
time,” said Panther head
coach
Sam
Workman.
“That’s just how it’s going to
be — tough games from now
on out, and anybody could
beat anybody on any given
night.”
A packed house turned
out with a majority of Pan-
ther fans in a nearly stand-
ing-room only gym.
The teams were tied in
the first quarter, with Dor-
ran Wilson, Lucas McKinley
and Syd Holman combining
for 10, including two 3-point
shots from McKinley.
Prairie City gained a
5-point lead when Levi
Burke picked up a loose ball
and scored, McKinley add-
ing a 3-pointer to start the
second.
Powder Valley’s Omar
Benites scored three times,
including once off a steal, to
help the Badgers push a 21-
21 tie.
The Badgers moved
ahead 23-22, but in the final
seconds, Burke overtook the
ball, and Wilson drove in to
score for a 24-23 lead going
into halftime.
In the third, Panther Jojari
Field scored his first points
of the night on a breakaway,
with Burke and Holman also
adding 2. Wilson later went
2-2 at the free-throw line.
Powder Valley tied the
score 30-30 and pulled away
with a 41-32 point lead.
Some Prairie City fans
said they were worried, see-
ing their team down in the
final 8 minutes, but the Pan-
thers pulled it together.
Wilson grabbed a de-
fensive rebound and Burke
drove for 2. Then Holman
added another 2.
With about 5 minutes left,
Wilson scored off his steal,
then returned after rebound-
ing to score 2 more.
It was Prairie City 40,
Powder Valley 43, and the
teams scrambled down on
the floor for the ball. The
Badgers picked it up, and
Wilson stole it back, scoring.
The crowd went wild
See STATE, Page A14
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
The Grant Union Prospectors celebrate after Saturday’s 66-51 win over the Santiam Wolverines.
Prospector boys win Santiam battle
on the way to the championships
Grant Union faces top
seed Thursday
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Grant Union Prospector Kaylee Wright scores on a layup
over the Weston-McEwen TigerScots in Friday night’s
round-one state playoff game in John Day. Grant Union
won the game 71-42.
Grant Union girls crush
TigerScots, advance
to state tournament
Lady Pros
face Faith
Bible Falcons
Thursday
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant Union Prospec-
tor girls took the energy from
a 24-10 first quarter and ran
with it, claiming a 71-42 vic-
tory over the Weston-McE-
wen TigerScots in Friday’s
first-round state champion-
ship playoff.
The Prospectors advance
to the Thursday through Sat-
urday, March 1-3, 2A OSAA
Girls State Championship
Tournament in Pendleton.
Grant Union will face the
Faith Bible Falcons at 3:15
p.m. Thursday at Pendleton
High School.
Grant Union head coach
Casey Hallgarth said defense
and a concerted effort from
each of the 12 team members
made the difference.
“Our defense is what’s car-
ried us all season,” Hallgarth
said. “We came out ready to
go tonight.”
Kaylee Wright’s tipoff
landed in the hands of a Tiger-
Scot at the start, but Wright
soon had it back in possession
and teammate Mariah Wright
scored on a layup for the first
2 points of the night.
The TigerScots answered
back, then Prospector Whit-
ney McClellan fired one off at
the free-throw line.
With about 2 minutes left
in the first, Mariah Wright
took the ball back from
Weston-McEwen, and Kaylee
Wright landed a 3-point shot.
Then Kaylee Wright
grabbed a steal, and Mariah
Wright scored a 3-pointer.
Prospectors Hailie Wright
and Madi McKrola scored 2
each to add to Grant Union’s
momentum.
Grant Union’s Trinity
Hutchison was aggressive to
the ball all night.
“It might not say it in the
stat book, about the hustle
points, but she was a spark
plug tonight for our whole
team,” Hallgarth said. “She
got on the floor after a ball,
and then all of a sudden, we
have three or four other girls
diving for the ball as well, and
fighting for it. In past games
we haven’t really had that.”
Grant Union was ahead
45-24 at the half and out-
scored the TigerScots 14-9 in
the third.
The Prospectors continued
their dominance in the final
eight minutes with players
from the bench helping finish
off the 29-point win.
Hallgarth said he felt
proud of his team.
“They bought into every-
thing we sold this year, and
they’ve stuck together with
it,” he said. “For them to
come through with the defen-
sive effort tonight, I’m proud
because Weston has two real-
ly good players who scored
most of their points tonight.”
TigerScot coach Mike Gi-
usti said they were happy to
See GIRLS, Page A14
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
In a fierce round-one state playoff
battle, the Grant Union Prospector boys
came out victorious 66-51 over the San-
tiam Wolverines.
The Prospectors, seeded No. 8,
now advance to the Thursday through
Saturday, March 1-3, OSAA 2A Boys
Basketball State Championships in
Pendleton where they’ll face the No.
1-seeded Western Mennonites at 1:30
p.m. Thursday at the Pendleton Con-
vention Center.
Grant Union, led by head coach Kel-
sy Wright, and Santiam, led by head
coach JD Hill, tied the score several
times throughout Saturday’s game, with
the Prospectors pulling away in the
fourth.
“They were ready for this,” Wright
said. “It was win or die, and they
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Grant Union Prospector Duane Stokes drives the ball ahead of Santiam
Wolverines Colin Thurston (15) and Sean Horning (33) in Saturday’s game.
weren’t done playing basketball yet, so
they went on and played phenomenal
basketball all the way through.”
Prospector Cole Deiter sent the
tipoff to Zack Deiter to start, and after
some back and forth, Santiam landed a
3-point shot.
Cole Deiter soon fired off a 3-pointer
for Grant Union.
Prospector Wade Reimers scored 3-5
at the free-throw line in the first quar-
ter, including 1-2 off a technical foul
See BOYS, Page A14
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Grant Union Prospector Trinity Hutchison grabs a loose
ball from Weston-McEwen in Friday night’s state playoff
game in John Day.
Prairie City receives High Desert all-tournament honors
Blue Mountain Eagle
High Desert all-tournament honorees for the Prairie
City girls are Cassie Hire, first team, left, and Brianna
Zweygardt, first team.
The Prairie City girls
and boys basketball teams
received
all-tournament
honors at the High Desert
District Tournament.
For the boys, senior Dor-
ran Wilson and junior Levi
Burke were named to the
all-tournament first team.
Junior Syd Holman was
named to the all-tourna-
ment second team.
For the girls, seniors Bri-
anna Zweygardt and Cassie
Hire were named to the
all-tournament first team.
Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter
High Desert all-tournament honorees for the Prairie City boys basketball team are, from
left, Syd Holman, second team; Levi Burke, first team; and Dorran Wilson, first team.