A10
SPORTS ROUNDUP
Blue Mountain Eagle
Prospector girls defeat
TigerScots in team effort
Grant Union Prospector girls
head coach Kristi Moore said, as they
near the end of the regular season, her
team needs to play each game like it’s
their last.
That’s just what they did on Sat-
urday, dominating the Weston-McE-
wen TigerScots with a 62-33 victory
in John Day.
Grant Union topped Weston-McE-
wen 43-12 at halftime.
“The girls came out intense,”
Moore said of her team. “After that
loss to Heppner, they decided they
want to win. They had good inten-
sity, good teamwork and played good
defense.”
Kaylee Wright led the Prospectors
with 18 points.
Next up, Grant Union hosts the
Enterprise Outlaws at 7:30 p.m.
Friday.
The teams are closely matched in
the conference, but on Jan. 4, Grant
Union beat the Outlaws 56-44 in
Enterprise.
Moore said Friday’s game will be
senior recognition night, and they hope
to fill the stands for the five seniors.
“It’s a big game for us,” she said.
She said, as they head down the
stretch of the regular season, they’ll
focus on rebounding and getting sec-
ond-chance opportunities and using
each girl’s strengths to lift the team.
“It’s that time of the season. We
have to work harder and keep the
motivation and intensity to be success-
ful,” she said.
Grant Union will face the Stan-
field Tigers on the road at 5:30 p.m.
Saturday.
If Grant Union loses Friday’s game
and wins Saturday, they would be tied
for first with Enterprise. If that occurs,
a playoff game would be held to deter-
mine which team is first in league.
If Grant Union wins Friday’s
game, they will play a nonleague con-
test against the Crane Mustangs on
the road at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12.
(If a playoff game for Grant Union
girls is necessary, this game would be
canceled.)
2A Blue Mountain Conference girls
standings
Grant Union, 9-1, 15-4 overall, No. 5 in state
Enterprise, 9-2, 17-4, No. 6
Heppner, 7-4, 15-8, No. 12
Union, 5-5, 11-9, No. 13
Stanfield, 4-6, 11-11, No. 25
Pilot Rock, 2-8, 8-12, No. 27
Weston-McEwen, 0-10, 5-16, No. 33
Grant Union boys top Weston-
McEwen in
seventh league win
Grant Union senior Tanner Elliott
led the Prospectors with 20 points
and 12 rebounds in the team’s 54-48
victory over the Weston-McEwen
TigerScots.
“He did an awesome job for us,”
Grant Union head coach Kelsy Wright
said of Elliott. “It was a huge night for
him.”
Grant Union kept a slim lead over
the TigerScots for much of the game
and were up 6 points at halftime.
“They knew they had to start
scoring the ball,” Wright said. “Our
defense is stepping up.”
The game was played without
starter Tristan Morris, a junior. Wright
said Morris is still recovering from an
injury but should be back this week.
The Prospectors are currently sec-
ond in the 2A Blue Mountain Con-
ference, and Wright said they hope to
carry that on to the district tournament.
They will host the Enterprise Out-
laws at 6 p.m. Friday, and they are on
the road to face the Stanfield Tigers at
4 p.m. Saturday. The Prospectors will
also play a nonleague game against the
Crane Mustangs at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday,
Feb. 12.
Grant Union beat the Outlaws
48-43 on Jan. 4 in Enterprise and fell
to the Tigers Jan. 18 in John Day.
“Enterprise and Stanfield are
two must-wins for us,” Wright said.
“We’re just working hard and staying
focused.”
2A Blue Mountain
Conference boys standings
Heppner, 10-1, 16-7 overall, No. 13 in state
Grant Union, 7-3, 9-10, No. 25
Union, 6-4, 13-7, No. 17
Stanfield, 6-4, 10-12, No. 29
Enterprise, 3-8, 9-13, No. 33
Weston-McEwen, 2-8, 4-17, No. 43
Pilot Rock, 2-8, 3-17, No. 46
Tiger girls have ups and downs
on the road
The Dayville/Monument Tigers
girls basketball team took a win and a
loss in road battles, beating the Hun-
tington Locomotives 32-14 on Friday
and falling 65-26 to the Crane Mus-
tangs on Saturday.
Dayville/Monument led the Loco-
motives 19-4 at halftime.
Tiger head coach Taylor
Schmadeka said his younger players
had a lot of court time against Hun-
tington, and the team played well on
both sides of the ball.
Denali Twehues led the Tigers with
7 points followed by Kyla Emerson,
Katie Barker and Sam Adams with
6. Aubreianna Osborne contributed 4
points, Hallie Rhoda had 2 and Court-
ney Nichols had 1.
In Saturday’s game against Crane,
Dayville/Monument was down 31-12
at halftime.
Twehues led her team with 11
points, followed by Kyla Emerson
with 7. Faythe Schafer scored 5 points
and Courtney Nichols 3.
The coach said they did improve
since they last played Crane, when
they lost by 46 points on Jan. 11.
“We did better on the offensive side
than we did the first time we played
them, exploiting some mismatches
and using our strengths against them,”
Schmadeka said.
He added, “The girls played
extremely hard both nights, and I’m
very proud of how we are progressing
as the season goes on.”
The Tiger teams were scheduled to
face Prairie City on Tuesday past press
time.
Dayville/Monument hosts the
Harper Hornets in Monument on Fri-
day with the girls playing at 5 p.m. fol-
lowed by the boys at 6:30 p.m.
The Tigers host the Long Creek/
Ukiah Mountain Lions on Saturday
in Monument, the girls at 2 p.m. and
boys at 3:30 p.m.
Dayville/Monument
boys defeat Huntington,
fall to Crane
The Dayville/Monument boys
picked up the pace after a slow first
half against Huntington Friday, over-
taking the Locomotives for a 42-32
win on Friday.
“The guys played well as a team,”
said Tiger head coach Jeff Schafer. “I
was very proud of the team for gain-
ing the lead and maintaining without
giving up any points in the last couple
of minutes.”
Donovan Schafer led the Tigers
with 18 points, followed by Drew Wil-
burn with 12.
On Saturday, Dayville/Monument
fell to Crane 66-32.
The coach said his team fell back
into some bad habits.
“Crane is a solid team, always
a challenge,” he said. “I believe we
failed mentally, but I do feel our team
can compete with them. We just have
to be prepared 100 percent.”
He said his team is looking forward
to a challenging week.
“We have three big games, and we
can’t take anything for granted,” Scha-
fer said. “Of course, our goal is to
make it to the district tournament.”
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
The 1A High Desert District Tour-
nament is scheduled for Thursday
through Saturday, Feb. 14-16, at Grant
Union Junior-Senior High School in
John Day.
“I’m so proud of my team for the
effort and hard work they have put in
this season — not just basketball skills,
but life skills, how to work together on
and off the court,” Schafer said. “They
have grown so much as a team and as
individuals.”
Grant Union boys
wrestling team places
sixth at BEO Tourney
Grant Union Prospector Drew
Lusco received the championship title
in the 285-pound weight class at Satur-
day’s Bank of Eastern Oregon Tourna-
ment in Heppner.
Grant Union had a sixth-place fin-
ish, facing 11 teams from the 2A/1A
Special District 4, plus Baker, Irrigon
and Mac-Hi.
“We are looking to improve that
finish in time for the district meet in
two weeks,” said Grant Union head
coach Andy Lusco, adding his team
will work on honing their skills and
conditioning.
Drew Lusco, a junior, is 37-1 on
the season and scored 27.5 points for
Grant Union in Heppner.
He had a bye in the champion-
ship round one, and won by tech fall
over Tim Standley of Irrigon in the
quarterfinal.
Drew pinned Alex Doherty of
Mac-Hi/Weston-McEwen/Griswold
in the semifinal and pinned Kaleb
Kendrick of Irrigon in the first-place
match.
Grant Union freshman Justin
Hodge (152), with a 31-12 record,
placed third.
Placing fourth for the Prospectors
were junior Russell Hodge (195, 21-5)
and sophomore Logan McCluskey
(160, 22-12).
Placing sixth were sophomore
Ethan Moore (106, 20-14), senior
Damion Young (145, 25-12) and soph-
omore Quintin Hallgarth (170, 20-18).
Grant Union will compete at the
Echo Tournament at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The District Tournament is sched-
uled for Friday and Saturday, Feb.
15-16, in Halfway.
Long Creek/Ukiah boys
win two at home
The Long Creek/Ukiah Mountain
Lion boys claimed two home victo-
ries, beating Pilot Rock junior var-
sity, 71-40, Jan. 29 in Ukiah and Burnt
River, 63-28, Saturday in Long Creek.
In the first match, Long Creek/
Ukiah starter Ben Combs, a junior,
twisted his ankle and was out for the
following two games.
On Friday, the Mountain Lions fell
97-76 to the Adrian Antelopes.
Long Creek/Ukiah coach TC Con-
ner said Combs is one of their main
rebounders and the team felt that loss
in their game against Adrian.
The Mountain Lions were behind
by 12 points when an Antelope hit a
3-pointer, Conner said, adding that
when his team tried to match it, their
3-point shots weren’t hitting their
mark.
“I told them to keep playing your
game,” Conner said.
“We just need to clean up our
rebounding,” he added. “Defensively
we did well, even without Ben, but it’s
the second chances we need.”
Long Creek/Ukiah will host the
Prairie City Panthers in Long Creek
on Friday with the girls game at 6 p.m.
and the boys at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the Mountain Lions
face the Dayville/Monument Tigers
at 2 for the girls and 3:30 p.m. for the
boys in Monument.
Conner said when the boys team
faced Prairie City earlier this season, it
“opened their mindset of getting clean
passes and getting open shots — we
made a huge leap in offense and mov-
ing the ball.”
He said he expects Friday’s game
against Prairie City to be a tough one,
as they are coming off two losses.
As they prepare for the Feb. 14-16
district tournament, held in John
Day, he said the boys are working on
offense.
“They’re getting more patient,” he
said. “It seems like we need a couple
more games to fine tune it.”
Mountain Lion girls gain
1-point victory over Bulls
The Long Creek/Ukiah girls
defeated the Burnt River Bulls 27-26
in a comeback finish on Saturday in
Long Creek.
Long Creek/Ukiah coach TC Con-
ner said the girls were trailing by
quite a bit.
“I told them keep working at it and
see if we can get it back into close
range,” he said.
He said they were down by dou-
ble digits in the third and narrowed
it down the gap by 4 points in the
fourth.
“We went man-to-man full court”
for the win, he said.
The Mountain Lions lost a non-
league game 29-24 against Pilot Rock
on Jan. 29 and fell 48-28 in Adrian on
Friday.
Thursday - Friday, February 14 & 15
Prime Rib $22.00 or Shrimp Fettuccine $17.00 served
with all the trimmings
Specialty Desserts and Drink Specials
201 W Main St. • John Day
541-575-0250 • Visit us on Facebook
99208