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Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Wednesday
January 2, 2019
Sports Schedule
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 2
Prairie City basketball vs. Powder Valley, girls
5:30 p.m., boys 7 p.m.
THURSDAY, JAN. 3
Long Creek/Ukiah basketball vs. Crane in
Long Creek, girls 5 p.m., boys 6:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, JAN. 4
Grant Union wrestling @ Jo-Hi Tournament
in Joseph, TBA
Long Creek/Ukiah basketball vs. Dayville/
Monument, girls 5 p.m., boys 6:30 p.m.
Grant Union basketball @ Enterprise, boys
6 p.m., girls 7:30 p.m.
Prairie City basketball @ Burnt River, girls
6 p.m., boys 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, JAN. 5
Grant Union wrestling @ Jo-Hi Tournament
in Joseph, TBA
Prairie City basketball vs. Long Creek/Ukiah,
girls 2 p.m., boys 3:30 p.m.
Dayville/Monument basketball @ Harper,
girls 4 p.m., boys 5:30 p.m. (MT)
Grant Union basketball vs. Union, boys
4 p.m., girls 5:30 p.m.
Angel Carpenter is a reporter for the Blue
Mountain Eagle. She can be contacted at
angel@bmeagle.com or 541-575-0710.
Panther boys hold off Huskies
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The final 3 minutes of Thurs-
day’s basketball game between
the Prairie City Panthers and
Sherman Huskies boys had fans
on the edge of their seats as the
teams tied the score three times.
Prairie City, now 7-0 on the
season, came out victorious
54-52 in the competitive match
between the teams that met
up at last season’s quarterfinal
round in the Panthers’ climb to
second in state.
Levi Burke led Prairie City
in scoring with 27 points, fol-
lowed by Jojari Field with 12.
Burke, Field, Cole Deiter
and Lucas McKinley combined
for the first 10 points of the
game before Sherman found
the basket.
The Panthers, up 30-18 at the
half, never gave up the lead.
Sherman tried to come back,
outshooting the Panthers 19-9 in
the third quarter to come within
a 2-point margin, 39-37, head-
ing into the final 8 minutes.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Prairie City Panther Cole Deiter (24) drives for the basket past
Sherman Huskie Caleb Fritts (35).
Deiter grabbed a defen-
sive rebound, and Burke sank
a shot for 2. Holman added 2,
followed by 2 from Field at the
free-throw line.
When Sherman tied the
score, 47-47, Prairie City’s tall-
est, 6-foot-5 Deiter and 6-foot-4
Burke, worked together on two
of the final three shots.
Deiter assisted Burke to
make it 49-47, and later with
a minute and a half to go,
Burke again broke a tie with
a 3-pointer. Sherman’s Wade
Fields answered back with a
3-pointer to tie it again, 52-52.
At the buzzer, Deiter
assisted Burke who sank a long
2-point shot.
Prairie City head coach Sam
Workman said he was pleased
with his team.
“It shows how hard they
can try,” he said. “They played
hard on defense. Sherman is a
tough team. I knew that they’d
be hunting for us, and we don’t
ever want to lose in our own
house.”
Burke said the game made
them realize they can’t let up
while facing quality teams like
Sherman.
“It was definitely good for
us because we haven’t been in
a situation like that,” he said.
“We’ve got some big games
this weekend.”
The Prairie City girls and
boys teams planned to travel
to the Friday-Saturday Les
Schwab Shootout at the Pend-
leton Convention Center,
past the Eagle’s early dead-
line. They were scheduled to
face Weston-McEwen and
Enterprise.
Prairie City hosts Powder
Valley on Wednesday, Jan. 2,
with the girls game starting at
5:30 p.m. followed by the boys
at 7 p.m.
Grant Union girls catch the wrestling wave
Five female athletes
hit the mat
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wrestling has traditionally been
male dominated, but an increasing
wave of girls are also enjoying the
sport, statewide and at Grant Union
Junior-Senior High School in John
Day.
Out of 21 high school wrestlers
on the Grant Union Prospector ros-
ter, five are girls — this is the most
Andy Lusco, who is in his seventh
year as head coach, has seen join
the team.
Last year, Savannah Wyllie was
the sole girl wrestler on the high
school team, and a few years ago
Hannah Deming was the first girl
on the team. There have also been a
few junior high girls wrestling since
2003, said Cindy Dougharity-Spen-
cer who has assisted the team in the
past.
Lusco said this year there are
over 400 girls wrestling in Oregon.
He said the great statewide num-
bers should ensure that his five
girls have plenty of opportunities
to compete with other girls in their
weight class.
“I think girls-only tournaments
will help us see an increase in our
overall numbers,” he said.
He said the girls can choose
to wrestle girls or boys through-
out the regular season. Then at the
state qualifying meet they’ll have to
make a decision about whether to
take on a girls or boys bracket and
stick with it if they advance to the
state tournament.
Lusco said he thinks most will
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Grant Union Prospector senior Sydney Brockway maneuvers,
attempting to get the upper hand on her sister sophomore Sophie
Brockway in wrestling practice Friday, Dec. 21.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
The Grant Union Prospector girls wrestling team has five members
this season. Front row, left to right: Ashley Henry and Arionna
Young; back, Sophie Brockway, Trinity Hutchison and Sydney
Brockway. This is the first year Grant Union has had more than one
girl on the team, and head coach Andy Lusco hopes to see more
girls join in the future.
choose the girls bracket, and he
believes having that option will
increase the interest for girls wres-
tling, resulting in a larger pool of
skilled female competitors.
Of the five Prospector girls
on the team, two have previous
experience.
Freshman Arionna Young is in
her fourth year in the sport, having
wrestled her junior high years as
well as in a mat club in sixth grade.
“I also work at home on the
mats, wrestling with my brothers,”
she said.
“I think we’ve got something
good here,” she said. “You go out
there and give it your best. On the
mat, it’s all on you, but at duals it’s a
group effort. We have a great team.”
Young helped recruit her class-
mate Ashley Henry, and sophomore
Sophie Brockway inspired her sis-
ter Sydney Brockway, a senior, to
join. Trinity Hutchison, who was on
the second-place state champion-
ship volleyball team with Sydney,
also decided to try the sport for her
senior year.
Lusco said Young has been well
coached and Henry is “tough as
nails.”
The two girls are in the same
weight class and often practice
together.
Henry said wrestling takes a lot
of hard work but is also fun, espe-
cially when it translates into win-
ning at competitions.
“I’m proud to be a part of this
team,” she said.
Sophie Brockway had two wins
and three losses at the Dec. 14-15
John Rysdam Memorial Tourna-
ment in Elgin for a first-place finish.
“There’s always something
good to look at, even though there’s
always something to improve on,”
she said.
Sydney said, although she feels
nervous before her matches, “when
you win, the hard work pays off.”
Hutchison said it’s been awhile
since she’s wrestled — she began
at age 3 and continued through fifth
grade.
“A lot of it came back to me, but
I’m still pretty novice, and there is a
lot I’m learning,” she said.
She said, at tournaments this
season, the most important thing to
remember is to give everything you
have in the competition.
“There’s always going to be peo-
ple more experienced than you, but
you want to go in with the mindset
that you can beat them if you work
hard enough and leave it all out on
the mat,” she said.
She added the girls on her team
are “athletic, talented and hard
working.”
“If we really put our minds to it,
we could end up at state this year,”
she said.
Lusco said the surge in partic-
ipation from girls has brought a
renewed enthusiasm to the sport.
“We are excited to see the
growth of girls wrestling state-
wide and here at Grant Union,” he
said. “My girls have been physi-
cally and mentally tough, and I’m
pleased with that.”
tinue playing tough with good
defense and shooting, working
through some illnesses.
in Long Creek for their first league
game of the season. The teams host
Dayville/Monument on Friday at
5 p.m. (girls) and 6:30 p.m. (boys)
in Long Creek, then travel to Prairie
City Saturday to face the Panthers at
2 p.m. (girls) and 3:30 p.m. (boys).
SPORTS ROUNDUP
Grant Union girls
start league play
with 2 wins, boys
take win and loss
The Grant Union Prospector girls
took no holiday from winning and
earned two league wins with a 65-53
road victory over Heppner on Dec.
21, followed by a 75-38 win over
Pilot Rock in John Day on Saturday.
Grant Union head coach Kristi
Moore said the Heppner Mustangs
were tough competitors.
“It was our first league game, and
the girls played well with defense,
which led to some good offensive
opportunities,” Moore said.
The Prospectors and the crowd
got into the festive spirit, donning
ugly Christmas sweaters, when they
hosted Pilot Rock.
“We started out with a big defen-
sive push, and it allowed us to keep
the intensity in our favor for the
whole game,” Moore said.
The Grant Union boys took a
59-55 loss to Heppner on Dec. 21
and beat Pilot Rock 57-49 the next
day.
Grant Union hosted Lakeview
on Dec. 28, past the Eagle’s early
deadline. The Prospectors will be
on the road Friday, facing Enterprise
Contributed photo/Tanni Wenger Pho-
tography
Grant Union Prospector Duane
Stokes ups his defense in the
Dec. 22 game against Pilot Rock
in John Day.
with the boys playing at 6 p.m., the
girls at 7:30 p.m. Grant Union hosts
Union Saturday with the boys play-
ing at 4 p.m., followed by the girls at
5:30 p.m.
Prairie City
Panthers host
alumni games,
prepare for first
league games
Prairie City basketball player
Levi Burke organized the Panthers
boys and girls alumni games on
Dec. 22 for his senior project.
The high school players faced
graduates from as far back as
1989 to 2018 for friendly and fun
competition.
Burke made the event a fund-
raiser, and the proceeds from
admission and a spaghetti feed
raised nearly $1,500, which will be
donated to the Prairie City Ameri-
can Legion Post 106.
“I personally don’t think the
veterans get enough recognition,”
Burke said. “We’re here for a rea-
son, and they are definitely part of
that.”
The Prairie City boys and girls
teams competed at the Pendle-
ton Les Schwab Shootout Dec.
28-29, facing Weston-McEwen and
Enterprise (past the Eagle’s early
deadline).
The teams will host Powder Val-
ley on Wednesday, Jan. 2, the girls
playing at 5:30 p.m., followed by
the boys at 7 p.m. On Friday, in
their first league game of the sea-
son, the teams face Burnt River on
the road in Unity, the girls at 6 p.m.
and the boys at 7:30 p.m. On Satur-
day, Prairie City hosts league oppo-
nents Long Creek/Ukiah with the
girls playing at 2 p.m. and the boys
at 3:30 p.m.
Prairie City boys head coach
Sam Workman said the team, which
is 6-0 on the season, plans to con-
Long Creek/Ukiah
teams set for three
league hoops games Tigers basketball
After facing tough out-of-state team prep for
competition at the Dec. 21-22 Helix
Tournament, the Long Creek/Ukiah league play
Mountain Lion basketball teams
are gearing up for their first league
games of the season.
The Mountain Lion girls fell
57-30 to Klickitat (Washington) on
Dec. 21, and the following day fell
to the 5A Pendleton junior varsity 2
team 46-29.
The Long Creek/Ukiah boys
were defeated 69-51 by Bickle-
ton (Washington) on day one of
the tournament and lost to Klicki-
tat-Glenwood (Washington) 57-42
on day two.
Long Creek/Ukiah coach Amos
Studtmann said they faced quality
competition and said his teams need
to work together and rebound more.
“It’s always the fundamentals,”
Studtmann said.
The Mountain Lions will host
Crane at 5 p.m. for the girls and
6:30 p.m. for the boys on Thursday
After hosting their alumni games
on Saturday, past the Eagle’s early
deadline, the 1A Dayville/Mon-
ument Tigers will take on league
competition.
The teams face 1A Long Creek/
Ukiah on Friday in Long Creek and
travel to Harper on Saturday where
they’ll face the Hornets at 5:30 p.m.
(MT) for the girls and 7 p.m. (MT)
for the boys.
The Tiger boys and girls com-
peted at the Dec. 20-22 Bobcat
Classic in Union.
The boys fell in four, 82-42 to
1A Powder Valley, 50-30 to 1A
Cove, 63-36 to 1A Elgin and 63-36
to Elgin again.
The Tiger girls fell to Powder
Valley 60-14 on day one, then beat
Cove 44-30. On Saturday, they fell
to 2A Union 49-32.