SPORTS
BlueMountainEagle.com
Grant Union Gold
dance team performs
Eagle photos/Richard Hanners
The Grant Union Gold dance team performs at halftime
during the girls basketball game Jan. 18. From left: Juen
Park, Emilie Updegrave and Clara Carr. Grant Union will
compete on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 2-3, in Stayton.
The Grant Union Gold dance team holds up Leah Comer
during their halftime performance at the Jan. 18 girls
basketball game in John Day. The team will perform
during halftime of the game against Heppner Saturday.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
A13
Cheerleaders want fans to ‘Get a little bit R-O-W-D-Y!’
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant Union cheerlead-
ing captain Torie Coalwell
said the team is leading a
pep rally Thursday at the
school to increase school
spirit as the basketball
teams move closer to the
Blue Mountain Conference
tournament.
She said they are plan-
ning
Minute-to-Win-It
games and will teach the
student body some of their
cheers.
This year’s cheer squad,
led by coach Brandi Gir-
vin, includes six seniors
Coalwell, Yui Asami, Kori
Jo Girvin, Shelby Brooks,
Avaley Mortimore and
Aidan Broemeling.
This is Girvin’s first year
coaching cheerleading.
She was a cheerleader in
high school and has more
recently coached volley-
ball, basketball and T-ball.
“Our goal is to increase
school spirit and get more
people involved, and for
them just to have fun as
seniors,” she said.
She added the girls enjoy
team activities, includ-
ing pizza and movies at her
home, and getting ready for
the games together. The girls
also decorate for the Pros-
pectors and the opponents,
to help them feel welcome.
Contributed photo/Tanni Wenger Photography
The Grant Union cheerleaders practice cheers before a recent home game, including, from
left, Avaley Mortimore, Kori Jo Girvin, captain Torie Coalwell, Yui Asami, Shelby Brooks and
Aidan Broemeling.
Broemeling, who was on
the team last year, said they
switched from cheering at
the football games to bas-
ketball games.
She said their cheers
switch up more often
with the back and forth of
basketball.
“It’s faster compared to
football,” she said. “I think
we have a lot of fun.”
Asami, who is a for-
eign exchange student from
Japan, said she’s excited
about the opportunity to be
a part of the team.
“We don’t have cheer-
leading in my home coun-
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Grant Union Prospector
cheerleaders ignite the fans
during a home basketball
game. From left: Aidan
Broemeling, Kori Jo Girvin,
Avaley Mortimore and Yui
Asami.
try,” she said. “It’s typical in
America and a lot of fun.”
Coalwell said she’s glad
they have a small group
of cheerleaders, and she’s
enjoyed getting to know
the other girls. Her favorite
part of cheering is the stunts,
including round offs, cart-
wheels and splits.
One of the cheers the
team is teaching the Grant
Union students is called
“Rowdy”: “Let’s get a little
bit rowdy, R-O-W-D-Y!”
Kori Jo Girvin said they
hope to get the fans excited
about the games.
“We really want the
crowd to join with us in the
cheers,” she said.
SPORTS ROUNDUP
Boys steamroll the
competition,
girls beat Harper
at home
The Prairie City Panther boys
basketball team, 5-0 in the High
Desert League, continues to dom-
inate their competition, defeating
the 5-1 Crane Mustangs 77-45 on
Friday and the 2-4 Harper Hornets
61-23 Saturday, both games played
in Prairie City.
“We played good all weekend
and played together,” said Panther
boys head coach Sam Workman.
He said, when they play teams
that are having a down season, “it’s
hard to keep them up to par.”
“We’ve been working hard in
practice, keeping them sharp,” he
said.
The 3-2 Prairie City girls fell
to 6-0 Crane on Friday, 70-29,
then beat 3-3 Harper on Saturday,
52-12.
Panther girls head coach Bo
Workman said, even though they
were behind in the game against
Crane, his team gave a full effort
to the end.
“They were doing good men-
tally and not letting the score get
them down,” he said.
“They shot better against Harper
and ran the floor with fast breaks,”
he said. “They’re working hard, so
hopefully the shooting will come.
Everybody is contributing.”
The Panther teams face Four
Rivers at 6 p.m., the boys at
7:30 p.m. (MT), on Friday in
Ontario, and they host Adrian
with the girls at 2 p.m. and boys
at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. On Tues-
day, Jan. 29, the Panthers travel
to Crane to face the Mustangs at
5 p.m., the boys at 6:30 p.m.
Dayville/
Monument girls
and boys win on
road and at home
The Dayville/Monument Tiger
girls chalked up two more wins for
a 5-1 High Desert League record
Contributed photo/Tanni Wenger Photography
Prairie City Panther Samantha Workman passes the ball in the game
against Crane.
after defeating the Burnt River
Bulls 53-11 on Friday and the Four
Rivers Falcons 45-23 on Saturday.
The Tigers are 13-3 on the
season.
“I’m really pleased with how
the girls are playing,” said Tiger
head coach Taylor Schmadeka.
“We have one of the best records
the girls have had in a long time.
Their work ethic in practice reflects
in the games.”
The Crane Mustangs lead the
league with a 6-0 record (15-2),
followed by Jordan Valley also 6-0
(13-2), then Dayville/Monument,
Adrian and Prairie City.
Schmadeka said his team played
both sides of the ball well in the
two games, adding their shooting
percentage was excellent.
Tiger Denali Twehues had a
career-high 20 points against the
Falcons on Saturday.
“We pushed the ball down the
floor really fast,” the coach said.
“We’ve been working on that in
practice to have a faster-paced
offense.”
The Tigers have a few tough
games on the schedule this week.
Dayville/Monument was sched-
uled to face Grant Union’s junior
varsity team on Tuesday, past press
time.
On Friday, the girls travel to
Adrian to face the Antelopes at
5 p.m., the boys at 6:30 p.m. (MT).
The Tigers host the Jordan Val-
ley Mustangs at 3 p.m., with boys
at 4:30 p.m., in Dayville.
The Dayville/Monument boys
also notched two wins, beating
Burnt River 65-25 and Four Riv-
ers 61-23.
The Tiger boys are 3-3 in
league.
Jordan Valley and Prairie City
lead the High Desert League,
followed by Crane, Adrian and
Dayville/Monument.
Long Creek/Ukiah
boys and girls host
teams in Ukiah
The Long Creek/Ukiah Moun-
tain Lions boys defeated the Hun-
tington Locomotives Saturday,
67-39, after a 90-65 loss to the Jor-
dan Valley Mustangs the previous
day, both games played in Ukiah.
Long Creek/Ukiah coach Amos
Studtmann, who co-coaches with
TC Conner, said bad passes and lost
dribbles cost them Friday’s game
against the Mustangs.
“We didn’t have a good answer
for Jordan Valley’s Zeke Quin-
tero — he scored 37 points on us,”
Studtmann said.
He added they learned from the
loss and improved their passing
against Huntington the next day.
He said they aim to improve on
passing, defense and pass denial
when the opponent has a strong
individual shooter.
The girls suffered an 80-8 loss
to Jordan Valley, and Huntington
forfeited Saturday due to lack of
players.
Studtmann said the Mustangs
gave them some good competition
and a learning opportunity.
“When we go against a big team
like this, we go for smaller goals
such as limiting turnovers and slow-
ing down fast breaks,” he said.
Long Creek/Ukiah has had only
junior varsity teams for the past
couple years, and Studtmann said
their goal is to advance to the 1A
High Desert District Tournament.
“I’d like to take advantage of
the opportunity while we have it to
experience district play,” he said.
Long Creek/Ukiah was sched-
uled to face Pilot Rock’s junior var-
sity team Tuesday past press time.
On Friday, the teams are on the
road to Harper where they’ll face
the Hornets at 6 p.m. (MT) for the
girls game, followed by the boys.
They host Four Rivers on Satur-
day at 2 p.m. for the girls, followed
by the boys, in Ukiah.
Studtmann said he’s hopeful his
teams will get the wins.
He said they will have to work
together and not as individual
players.
“Both teams will have to come
in with good team chemistry, good
passes, intense rebounding and a
will to win,” he said. “I believe they
can.”
Currently, the Mountain Lion
girls are 1-5 in league, ahead of
Burnt River and Huntington. The
boys are 3-4 in league, ahead of
Harper, Burnt River and Four
Rivers.
Grant Union
wrestlers show
progress at Oregon
Classic, host
invitational on
Friday
The Grant Union Prospector
wrestling team competed Friday
and Saturday at the Oregon Classic
in Redmond.
“We had mixed results but wres-
tled pretty well for a young team,”
said Grant Union head coach Andy
Lusco.
He said they struggled the first
day, going 1-3, and on day two
they were 2-1 and lost a dual with
Jefferson by 1 point.
“We had to forfeit three weight
classes, and that certainly cost us a
couple more wins,” he said.
“The Oregon Classic is a great
test of overall team depth and abil-
ity,” he said. “We look forward to
bringing this whole team back next
season with the addition of a hand-
ful of freshman to fill those miss-
ing weight classes.”
Prospector Ethan Moore, wres-
tling at 106 pounds, went 7-0.
“He had a great tournament and
is wrestling very well,” Lusco said.
Russell Hodge (182) and Drew
Lusco (285) each also had a 7-0
record.
“Russell had a great tourna-
ment,” coach Lusco said. “He beat
some tough kids and was pretty
disciplined.”
He added that Drew also wres-
tled well, and his matches were
over in the first round.
The coach said freshman Jus-
tin Hodge (152), who went
6-1, defeated some high quality
wrestlers.
Logan McCluskey (160) went
5-2, wrestling up a weight class. He
“didn’t miss a beat,” the coach said.
“He’s become a high quality wres-
tler and a stalwart in our lineup.”
Damion Young (145) went 4-3,
while battling a nagging injury,
Lusco said. “We’re very proud of
his effort.”
He said Quintin Hallgarth (170)
had a 3-4 record in a tough weight
class. “He had no easy matches and
battled hard for three wins,” Lusco
said.
Lusco added others show-
ing improvement include Sam
McCracken (120, 1-7), Ben Henry
(126, 3-4), Tanler Fuller (132, 1-6)
and Jesse Douglass (138, 3-4).
On Jan. 15, Grant Union com-
peted at the Burns-Crane Duals in
Burns.
Grant Union scored 48 against
Crane who scored 14. Burns had
45 to Grant Union’s 24.
Lusco noted that Trinity Hutchi-
son picked up a win in an exhibi-
tion match against Crane.
The Prospectors host the Grant
Union Invitational at 12 p.m. Fri-
day in John Day.
2019 Fares
John Day Taxi - 541-620-4255
As
a
service
the community,
we are
running
If you’ve got the to time,
call a People
Mover
for free
24
hours
a
day
now
-
Monday
thru
Saturday
If you’ve got the dime, & want to move’er, call me
From John Day to:
One Way
Airport, GCR:
Canyon City:
Dayville:
Dispensary:
John Day:
Mt. Vernon:
Prairie City:
Tidewater:
Vet Clinic:
$10.00
$10.00
$50.00
$7.50
$5.00
$15.00
$25.00
$10.00
$10.00
Anything
beyond
that: up;
$2.00
a mile the
Please
call any time
and hang
it eliminates
Waiting: and
$1.00
for every
minutes
telemarketers
captures
your 5 phone
number.
I will get right back to you.
Happy New Year
John Day Taxi
Thanks, Richie
Richie
Meeting Notice
The 2019 Biennial Review of the Upper
Mainstem and South Fork John Day River
Agricultural Water Quality Management
Area Plan will be held from 3:30 – 6:00 pm,
Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at the Oregon
Department of Forestry conference room
located at 415 Patterson Bridge Rd. in John
Day. For additional information, contact
Jason Kehrberg or Pat Holliday at the Grant
Soil & Water Conservation District office at
541 575-0135, ext. 101.
Every other Monday in John Day at
Blue Mountain Hospital
170 Ford Rd. • 541-575-1311