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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2018)
A14 Sports Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, February 28, 2018 BOYS Continued from Page A13 brought on by Santiam’s Jordan Lanham, with another 4 points added off layups. Grant Union’s Cauy Weaver, Duane Stokes, Kellen Shelley and Ty McDaniel also contributed to the 23-16 lead. Santiam outshot Grant Union 13-11 in the second, but the Prospectors stayed in the lead, 34-29. Reimers fell early in the third and limped out of the game, for a time. Then Santiam crept up on the Prospectors’ lead, tying the score 37-37. A technical foul was called on Reimers after he re-entered the game later in the quar- ter, and Santiam scored 1-2 for a 43-43 tie. Stokes stole the ball and scored, and when Santiam answered back with a buck- et, Stokes landed a 3-pointer and added a free-throw shot for a 49-45 lead for Grant Union going into the fourth. The intensity grew, along with Grant Union’s momentum in the final eight min- utes. The Prospectors were ahead 58-49 when a technical foul was called on San- tiam’s head coach. Shelley landed 2-2 at the free-throw line on the call. He went to the line twice more, adding 4 more points, and he scored two more bas- kets in the fourth. Grant Union powered ahead, holding Santiam to 6 for the quarter for the 15-point win. Stokes led the Prospectors with 21 points, followed by Reimers with 15. Wright said both teams wanted the win, and his team stayed composed and worked hard for it. Grant Union already accomplished two goals, winning the Wapiti regular-season title and the district tournament title. “This was our third goal, to get to the Final 8, and we just did it,” Wright said. “We’ve got Western Mennonite on Thurs- day. (Santiam) is the only team in the state that has come close to beating them. They only lost by 6 points, so if we can play this well with this group of boys, over there in the ‘states’ we can compete pretty well.” Wright highlighted Weaver for his re- bounding. “He helped us out tremendously on free-throw rebounding, which is hard be- cause it’s four against two down there, and he came up with the basketball three or four times and gave us an extra possession — that was great on his part, and I think we contributed points off of that as well.” Wright added it took every team mem- ber for the win. “It was pretty awesome, and I’m just proud of everybody,” he said. Grant Union players expressed the thrill of the win. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospectors run on the court to celebrate Friday’s win over Weston-McEwen, including, from left, Mariah Wright, Hailie Wright, Kaylee Wright, Whitney McClellan (back) and Madi McKrola. GIRLS Continued from Page A13 The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector Cole Deiter takes aim while under pressure from Santiam’s Josh Fawcett, Prospector Duane Stokes (13) also in the action on Saturday. Grant Union Prospector Wade Reimers scores over Santiam. momentum to keep us rolling into Thurs- day’s game.” Reimers added his thoughts on facing Santiam again this school year. “It was great revenge, since we lost to them in football,” he said. “They played a good game against the team we’ll face at state, the No. 1 team. We’ve got to keep im- proving our defense.” Grant Union school officials will send a rooter bus to the Prospector boys and girls state tournament for Thursday, if enough people sign up. The cost is $10. For more information, call 541-575-1799, ext. 20. “It’s been a long time since we’ve moved on to state,” Weaver said. “It’s a big thing, winning league and districts — big steps. We played together and never let up on the throttle.” Zack Deiter said he’s excited to advance to state. “It’s nice to see all the hard work pay off that we put in this season,” he said. Stokes added, “I think this was definite- ly a tough game, and we need to use this Grant Union Duane Stokes: 21 (four 3-pointers, 5-6 free throws) Wade Reimers: 15 (3-5 free-throws) Kellen Shelley: 12 (6-6 free throws) Cauy Weaver: 9 (1-7 free throws) Cole Deiter: 7 (one 3-pointer) Ty McDaniel: 2 Santiam Jonah Downey: 25 (two 3-pointers, 1-2 free throws) Josh Fawcett: 11 (one 3-pointer) Jordan Lanham: 5 (one 3-pointer) Dustin Keys: 4 Sean Horning: 4 Colin Thurston: 2 (0-2 free throws) The Eagle/Angel Carpenter The Eagle/Angel Carpenter the corner’s HOT SH T EEK OF THE W ZACK DEITER School: Grant Union Grade: 12 Parents: Chris & Windi Deiter Sport: Basketball Position: Guard Workman looks forward to next season The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Prairie City Panther Jojari Field (5) flies up to score and draws an opportunity at the free-throw line in Saturday’s game. quarter and win,” he said. “They played with a lot of heart all year, and to get to this point was a huge accom- plishment.” Workman said his team played well, and he’s proud of them. Prairie City Dorran Wilson: 20 (6-12 free throws) Lucas McKinley: 9 (three 3-pointers) Levi Burke: 9 (one 3-pointer) Syd Holman: 9 (3-4 free throws) Jojari Field: 3 (1-3 free throws) Jayden Winegar: 2 Powder Valley Omar Benites: 12 (two 3-pointers) Hunter Davis: 11 (3-3 free throws) Tanner Eubanks: 10 (one 3-pointer, 1-2 free throws) Roper Bingham: 6 Moziss Nesser: 4 Dominick Grende: 2 The Prairie City Panther girls basketball team lost their round-one state playoff battle 46-25 to the Powder Valley Badgers Feb. 20. The Panther girls made it to state competition after their third-place finish at the Feb. 15-17 1A-8 Dis- trict Tournament in John Day. Prairie City head coach Bo Workman said Powder Valley, ranked No. 3 among OSAA 1A teams, shot well and ran an aggressive de- fense. He said the Badgers made a run in the first half, which left the Panthers try- ing to catch up. “We made a little run in the fourth,” he said, adding, “They beat us from the out- side and just couldn’t seem to miss.” Workman said overall it was a good season. “We accomplished a lot in our mental game, and the younger girls got a lot of post season experience,” he said. The team graduates three seniors, Brianna Zweygardt, Cassie Hire and Megan Ca- marena. This year, Bo Workman had his father, Mike Work- man, as a volunteer assistant coach. The elder Workman brings many years of coach- ing experience, including Prairie City in the ’80s, Mt. Vernon High School and then Grant Union High School, after Mt. Vernon be- came a junior high school. He also coached Jordan Val- ley for several years, after Eagle file photo Prairie City Panther Rilee Emmel scores in the game against Adrian on Feb. 17 at the District 8 Tournament. moving there. “He’s been one of the best assistant coaches you could have sitting next to you on the bench,” Bo Workman said. At the District 8 Tour- nament, held Feb. 15-17 at Grant Union in John Day, Prairie City beat the Harper Hornets 53-32 on day one, and the Panthers fell 47-46 in a hard-fought battle with the Jordan Valley Mustangs the following day. Playing for third place, Prairie City beat the Adrian Antelopes 44-39 for their ticket to round one in the state playoffs. The last time the Lady Panthers reached the state level was in 2014, then coached by Penny Black and Denis Fast, when the team placed sixth at the champi- onship tournament in Baker City. Workman said he plans to return as coach next year, adding he has two little girls he would like to coach one day. “I’m hoping to be in it for the long run,” he said. G RANT U NION DOMINATES W APITI L EAGUE HONORS What I like best about my sport: “I’ve been playing with the same five since sixth grade. It takes us all to win a game — you can’t win it by yourself.” Coach’s Comment: “He’s definitely developed into a team player. He’s one of our better offensive players on the team.” - Coach Kelsy Wright PROUD SPONSOR OF GRANT COUNTY ATHLETES 100 E. Main • Stoplight in John Day 541-792-0425 Prairie City girls end season at round one Blue Mountain Eagle Continued from Page A13 Prairie City Panther Dorran Wilson (3) scores over pressure from Powder Valley Badger Hunter Davis. Grant Union Kaylee Wright: 25 (two 3-pointers, 3-5 free throws) Mariah Moulton: 11 (three 3-pointers) Trinity Hutchison: 8 Madi McKrola: 8 Mariah Wright: 7 (one 3-pointer) Hailie Wright: 4 (2-4 free throws) Marissa Smith: 4 Kori Girvin: 2 Whitney McClellan: 1 (1-3 free throws) Alcie Moore: 1 (1-2 free throws) Weston-McEwen Katie Vescio: 13 (1-3 free throws) Chelsea Quaempts: 13 (5-8 free throws) Alyssa Finifrock: 6 Jordyn Lambert: 4 Trinity Hearn: 2 Tyree Burke: 2 Hannah McIntyre: 2 By Angel Carpenter STATE when Holman rebounded and Burke scored 3, to move the Panthers ahead 45-43. With only 53 seconds left on the clock, Prairie City continued to pull ahead at the free-throw line. Wilson led the Panthers with 20 points for the night, followed by McKinley, Hol- man and Burke with 9 each. “It was a great win, and we worked hard for it all week,” Wilson said. “I think it’s pre- paring myself and a lot of the younger guys to really see what that next-level competi- tion is like.” Burke said it was “killer” to beat an experienced team like Powder Valley. “They played hard, so I’m glad we could pull it out,” he said. Holman agreed. “No matter what, they’re a solid team,” he said of the Badgers, adding that if they hadn’t straightened out, they may have lost. “But we got to- gether and played as a team.” “It’s my freshman year, and an experience like this is awe- some,” said Field. “The inten- sity of the crowd was great.” Powder Valley’s head coach Warren Wilson said it was a good game. “You just can’t have the collapse we had in the fourth play against a quality oppo- nent. “My team, as always, played extremely hard,” he said. “Some of our shortcom- ings were exposed, but we never quit.” He said his team has been improving with each game, including the playoff. “My hat is off to Grant Union,” he said. “They can beat any team in the state, and I look forward to watch- ing them play next week.” Grant Union players were thrilled with the win. “We all played together and moved the ball well,” said Mariah Moulton. “It’s one more milestone, and now we have a whole week to pre- pare for Pendleton.” Makenna Culley said she appreciated the opportunity to play with the varsity team. “We knew going into to- night we had to give it our all to make it to Pendleton this week,” she said. “The en- ergy of the game was great, and having the whole town here was an awesome expe- rience.” “I think we brought our best game tonight because we knew we had to,” said Marissa Smith. “If we keep playing like we can, I think we have the potential to go far in the state tournament.” Grant Union school offi- cials will send a rooter bus to the Prospector girls and boys state tournament for Thurs- day, if enough people sign up. The cost is $10. For more information, call 541-575- 1799, ext. 20. 42751 Blue Mountain Eagle The Grant Union girls and boys basketball teams are advancing to the state tournament, but they’ve al- ready received numerous honors for their accomplish- ments in the Wapiti League. For the girls, Kaylee Wright was named Player of the Year, and Casey Hall- garth was named Coach of the Year. Kaylee Wright and Hailie Wright, both juniors, were named to the all-league first team. Junior Madi McKrola and senior Mariah Moulton were named to the all-league second team. And senior Mariah Wright received honorable mention. For the boys, Duane Stokes was named Play- er of the Year, and Kelsy Wright was named Coach of the Year. Stokes and Wade Reimers, both seniors, were named to the all-league first team. Senior Zack Deiter was named to the all-league second team. Sophomore Cole Deiter and senior Cauy Weaver received honorable mention. Contributed photo/Elizabeth Shelley Grant Union 2018 all-league honorees from the Wapiti League are, from left, Hailie Wright, Cole Deiter, Mariah Moulton, Zack Deiter, Kaylee Wright, Duane Stokes, Madi McKrola, Cauy Weaver, Mariah Wright and Wade Reimers. Girls coach Casey Hallgarth and boys coach Kelsy Wright, not pictured, were each named Coach of the Year.