A10
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
WEDNESDAY
October 24, 2018
Grant Union wins fourth BMC district title
Prospectors host
first-round game
Saturday
By Annie Fowler
EO Media Group
Grant Union has quite the
collection of Blue Mountain
Conference district champion-
ship trophies.
The Prospectors picked
up their fourth consecutive
title Saturday with a 25-19,
25-17, 25-23 victory over
Weston-McEwen at Stanfield
High School.
“It’s a pretty special team,”
first-year coach Ali Abrego
said. “It’s exciting to keep the
tradition alive.”
Grant
Union
and
Weston-McEwen advance to
the 2A state tournament, and
will host first-round games next
Saturday.
Heppner, which finished
third, and fourth-place Union,
will play state play-in games
this week.
Kaylee Wright had 18 kills
and four digs for the defend-
ing state champions, who im-
proved to 25-4 on the season.
Hailie Wright handed out 14
assists, and had six kills.
After a 7-7 tie in the first
set, the Prospectors slowly
pulled away from the Tiger-
Scots (23-6). They held leads
of 18-11, 20-14 and got a kill
from Kaylee Wright to put the
set away.
Grant Union got on a roll
early in the second set, and a
string of seven consecutive
points by Sydney Brockway
gave the Prospectors a 9-1 lead.
EO Media Group/Annie Fowler
The Grant Union Prospectors won the Blue Mountain
Conference district volleyball title Saturday for the fourth
consecutive year.
Trailing
17-7,
Weston-McEwen went on a
little run of its own, getting
three points from Tyree Burke
to make it 17-10. Carrie Ha-
zen later dished up a pair of
aces to pull the TigerScots
within 19-15, but it was all
Grant Union from there, with
Kaylee Wright pounding
down three kills in a row for
a 23-16 lead.
Down two sets, the Tiger-
Scots were far from done.
The teams exchanged
points from the start, with
Weston-McEwen twice lead-
ing by two points — 15-13
and 16-14. The TigerScots
led 20-19, but four unforced
errors down the stretch, in-
cluding a net serve on match
point, helped Grant Union
seal the win.
There were 18 ties in the
third set, and despite never
taking the lead for good until
24-23, the Prospectors never
wavered.
“They did not let their emo-
tions get the best of them,”
Abrego said. “Weston-McE-
wen has a really good team. It
makes it better when you have
to earn it.”
W-M coach Shawn White
was pleased with how his
team competed.
“They are good, and we are
Prairie City junior Emily Ennis spikes
over Crane senior Katie Burns and
sophomore Shelie Doman during the
High Desert League district volleyball
tournament.
Visitors edge out locals
in District 1A-8 tourney play
Tournament kicks off with
Tiger-Panther matchup
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
L
ocal and visiting sports fans were treat-
ed to an exciting District 1A-8 High
Desert League volleyball tournament
Oct. 20 at Grant Union Junior-Senior High
School in John Day.
The No. 4-seed Prairie City Panthers started
the tournament by defeating their cross-coun-
ty rival and No. 5-seed Dayville/Monument
Tigers in four competitive sets with numerous
lead changes, 25-17, 20-25, 25-18 and 25-20.
Panther juniors Rilee Emmel and Emily
Ennis had several powerful spikes, but the
Tigers responded with good blocks at the net,
especially by freshman Aubreianna Osborne.
The Tigers went on to defeat the Harper
Charter Hornets in the consolation round, 25-9
and 25-12.
“I’m really proud of them,” Tiger head
coach Kristi Emerson said. “They did well as
a team.”
The Tigers, with a short roster and two se-
niors, pressured the Panthers with good blocks
and long rallies, Emerson said, but they missed
some important serves.
Eagle photos/ Richard Hanners
Prairie City junior Emily Ennis returns
the ball against Dayville/Monument
during the High Desert League volleyball
tournament. Prairie City sophomore
Aries Bice and junior Rilee Emmel back
Ennis up while Dayville/Monument junior
Aubrey Bowlus and senior Kyla Emerson
guard the net.
“I saw some great teamwork and great spir-
it,” Emerson said.
Panther head coach Jordan Bass said her
team was doing well and found the scoring
drive to win the game against Dayville/Mon-
ument.
“We stayed mentally tough,” she said.
“There was some good and bad, but we han-
dled it the way I wanted to.”
Next up for the Panthers was No. 1-seed
Jordan Valley. The Panthers lost to the Mus-
tangs during the season in three close sets.
“When we’re on, we can’t be beat,” Pan-
ther assistant coach Lance Zweygardt said
ahead of the game.
The Mustangs won the round in three sets,
25-22, 25-11 and 25-17. Jordan Valley got
ahead early in the first set, but Prairie City
fought to maintain a 4-point margin. The play
intensified with back-and-forth serves as the
Panthers clawed back to within 3 points at the
end of the set.
Mustang junior Becky Mackenzie’s tough
serving gave Jordan Valley a 9-2 lead early in
the second set. The Panthers battled back and
got within striking distance midway through
the set, but the Mustangs picked up their pace
for the 14-point win.
The Panthers took an early lead in the third
set, but the Mustangs rallied and tied the score
at 8 apiece. Mackenzie’s serving then picked
apart the Prairie City defense to end the set.
No. 3-seed Adrian upset No. 2 Crane in a
tough 3-2 game, setting up Prairie City and
Crane for the third-place round. The Mustangs
had defeated the Panthers in season play 3-1,
and the Prairie City roster was down for the
tournament with four injured players.
See VB, Page A13
getting closer,” he said. “In
the third, we couldn’t quite
get there. This is good expe-
rience for us. They are the de-
fending state champs and one
of the best teams in the state.
The girls played well.”
Alcie Moore added 13 as-
sists for Grant Union, while
Trinity Hutchison had five
kills and Sydney Brockway
seven digs, four kills and
three assists.
Seniors Hailie Wright,
Kaylee Wright, Hutchison
and Moore were named first
team all conference, and Syd-
ney Brockway and Taylor Al-
len were named to the second
team.
This article will be updat-
ed at myeaglenews.com with
Grant Union’s Saturday game
time and opponent as soon as
information is available.
S PORTS R OUNDUP
Dayville/Monument
football falls to
Huntington
The Dayville/Monument Tiger
football team fell 42-25 to the Hun-
tington Locomotives Friday in Day-
ville.
The Tigers, led by quarterback
JT Hand, came out strong with a 25-
14 lead going into halftime.
Dayville/Monument head coach
Kyle Hand said freshman Tell Cox
and sophomore Mark Thomas most-
ly ran the ball, and his team was sol-
id defensively in the first half.
Hand said, while Huntington had
a couple big plays in the second half,
his team came up flat and couldn’t
find their rhythm due to injuries.
Tiger senior Cade Milton was
fighting a sprained ankle in the sec-
ond half and was out by the fourth
quarter. Quarterback JT Hand was
also injured.
Coach Hand decided to cancel
Friday’s game against Mitchell/
Spray/Wheeler, which would have
been the Tigers’ final game.
“Overall for the season, we
learned a lot,” said coach Hand,
who was in his first year as head
coach. “Their football IQ is a lot
better, they’re more aggressive and
their tackling has improved.”
He said his assistant coaches,
See ROUNDUP, Page A13
SPORTS
SCHEDULE
Friday, Oct. 26
Grant Union cross coun-
try @ 3A/2A/1A Special
District 3 Meet at Pend-
leton Community Park,
boys at 3 p.m., girls at
3:30 p.m.
Grant Union football vs.
Weston-McEwen at 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 27
Grant Union volleyball
hosts first-round state
playoff in John Day, op-
ponent and time TBD
Grant Union to battle Weston-McEwen Friday for playoff spot
Blue Mountain Eagle
It’s do or die for the Grant
Union Prospector football team
as they battle for a state playoff
spot Friday.
The Prospectors (4-4, 2-1)
will face the Weston-McEwen
TigerScots (3-4, 2-1) at 7 p.m.
Friday at Three Flags Field in
John Day.
The game will decide which
team moves on to the OSAA
first-round state playoffs as No.
2 in the 2A Special District 6 —
only the top two advance.
The Heppner Mustangs (6-
2, 3-0) sealed the district title
after defeating Grant Union 47-
14 Friday night in Heppner.
Heppner
kept
control
throughout the battle, holding
Grant Union scoreless until late
in the game.
Russell Hodge scored Grant
Union’s first touchdown with
less than 5 minutes left in the
fourth quarter on a 7-yard run.
Hodge ended up with 79 yards
rushing on 15 attempts.
Jordan Hall intercepted a
Heppner pass and ran it back 63
yards for the other score with
about 2:25 left in the contest.
Grant Union, ranked No. 19
among OSAA’s 2A teams, has
scored 186 points and allowed
166. Weston-McEwen, No. 26,
has scored 181 and allowed
182.
“The
(Weston-McEwen)
game will decide who goes to
state in second place,” Prospec-
tor coach Jason Miller said. “It
will be a tough game, and we
look forward to the challenge.”
EO Media Group/E.J. Harris
Grant Union’s Quinton Hallgarth and Peyton
Neault (66) wrap up Heppner quarterback
Jayden Wilson in the Mustangs’ 47-17
win against the Prospectors on Friday in
Heppner.
EO Media Group/E.J. Harris
Heppner’s Mason Lehman stiff arms Grant Union’s Jordan Hall
in the Mustangs’ 47-17 win against the Prospectors on Friday in
Heppner.