Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2019)
A8 PAGE LABEL Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, February 13, 2019 WEDNESDAY February 13, 2019 Grant Union girls are league champions GRANT UNION STATS Lady Pros No. 1 seed at district tourney Kaylee Wright: 17 points (two 3-pointers, 5-6 free throws) Madi McKrola: 16 (2-6 free throws) By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Grant Union Pros- pector girls are league cham- pions after making a big leap over the Enterprise Outlaws in the fourth quarter Friday for a 58-45 win. The teams kept the game tight in the fi rst three quarters of the battle, with Grant Union up 13-12 in the fi rst, up 28-27 in the second and down 37-35 in the third. Prospector junior Baylee Combs infused some energy into the game for Grant Union in the fi nal eight min- utes, scoring 2 points at the start and going 1-1 at the free-throw line. Just one minute later Combs landed a 3-point shot. Grant Union would con- tinue on to outscore Enter- prise in the fourth for the win. “Baylee came off the bench, hit some good points Hailie Wright: 10 (one 3-pointer, 3-4 free throws) Baylee Combs: 8 (one 3-pointer, 1-1 free throw) Marissa Smith: 3 (one 3-pointer) Tyler Blood: 2 Kaytlyn Wells: 2 (2-4 free throws) The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector Kaylee Wright (23) goes up to score with Enterprise Outlaw Karli Bedard (25) on defense. for us and really got the girls going,” said Prospector head coach Kristi Moore. “That fi red them up, and we were able to pull out in the end.” “It was a great night,” Moore said. “We knew Enterprise was coming in, and they wanted to play their very best, and so we knew we had to play our very best. It was senior night — hope- fully now we’ll have another home game, but that was the last home game of the regular season, and they just came in fi red up, ready to win.” Prospector Kaylee Wright scored a game-high 17 points, followed by Madi McKrola with 16. Grant Union was strong on defense as a team, includ- ing senior Marissa Smith Prospectors clinch district No. 2 seed Boys will face Union fi rst at tournament By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector Mason Gerry picks up a steal with Enterprise Outlaws Devin Greer (14) and Dylan Marr (24) in hot pursuit during Friday’s game in John Day. GRANT UNION VS. ENTERPRISE Tanner Elliott: 18 (8-11 free throws) Jacob Vaughan: 15 (two 3-pointers, 1-4 free throws) Tristan Morris: 15 (one 3-pointer, 2-4 free throws) Devon Stokes: 8 (one 3-pointer, 1-3 free throws) Jordan Hall: 4 (one 3-pointer, 1-4 free throws) Mason Gerry: 2 (2-2 free throws) Taylor Hunt: 2 ready for everything Enter- prise, led by head coach Larry Wells, threw at them. Wright said Elliott did a great job with rebounding and “always working hard on the fl oor,” and Vaughan “was shooting the ball well and played great defense.” Elliott led the Prospec- tors with 18 points for the night, followed by Morris and Vaughan with 15 each. Outlaw Cason Kirkland had a game-high 19. Vaughan said it was a big win. “We played well as a team, and everyone got involved and passed the ball well,” he said. “We played hard — we knew it was a must-win if we wanted to go into districts as No. 2.” Grant Union sealed that No. 2-seed to the Blue Mountain Conference tour- nament on Saturday, defeat- ing the Stanfi eld Tigers 56-42 on the road. The tournament takes place on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 15-16, at the Pendleton Convention Center. The Prospectors face the Union Bobcats, the No. 3 seed, in game one at 1 p.m. Friday, and the winner will play the No. 1-seeded Hep- pner Mustangs on Saturday. The winner of that match will be tournament cham- pion and the No. 1 seed to state, and the loser will be the No. 2 seed to state. The loser of Friday’s game one will face the win- ner of the 6 p.m. Friday game between Stanfi eld (No. 4) and Enterprise (No. 5), and the winner will place third in the tournament but not continue to state. Prairie City boys beat Monument/Dayville By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Prairie City Panther boys proved to be too much for the Dayville/Monument Tigers to handle as the Pan- thers defeated the Tigers 60-31 Feb. 5 at the Prairie City court. Prairie City’s Cole Deiter scored a game-high 18 points, and Dayville/Mon- ument’s Drew Wilburn led the Tigers with 16 points. The Panthers led for the entirety of the game and were up 28-11 at the half. Prairie City stood out as they outscored Dayville/ Monument 20-7 in the third quarter. Panther assistant coach Mike Workman said his team was sluggish to start but improved in the second half. “We were about a half step behind and not as sharp as we need to be,” he said. “We ran the fl oor pretty well, and in the third quar- ter fi nally ran a half-court offense and got the ball inside and worked the ball better.” In the third, Tiger Gabe Hopkins-Walker scored to start. Then the Panthers went on a 14-point scoring run. Panther Syd Holman scored 10 of his 14 points in the game during the third, including 2 off a steal and a fast break. His teammate Levi Burke followed, scoring off a steal, less than two min- utes later. Wilburn scored 5 points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer. Tiger head coach Jeff Schafer said his team has improved. He said Prairie City is a tough opponent, but his team accomplished what they worked on in practice, including moving the ball well. “We defi nitely had a better team today,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the next two games. We’d like to go to districts, and we’ve got to fi ght in the next two games.” Wilburn said the game was fun, and he’s proud of his teammates. “We really worked hard together and moved the ball around,” he said. “The goal is to get to districts, so we’re working really hard and mak- ing that fi nal push.” Holman said his team played well, but has some lit- tle things to work on. “I feel like we had our moments that were gorgeous, where we just played really good basketball,” he said. “I know that our team, when it’s time, will be there.” Prairie City defeated Long Creek/Ukiah 89-46 on Friday in Long Creek, and the Pan- thers beat Burnt River 82-38 in Prairie City on Saturday for the Panthers’ senior rec- ognition game. Dayville/Monument hosted two games in Monu- ment, defeating Harper 45-29 on Friday and beating Long Creek/Ukiah 62-46 on Satur- day for the Tigers’ senior rec- ognition game. The 1A High Desert League Tournament is sched- uled for Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 14-16, at Grant Union Junior-Senior High School in John Day. Prairie City, No. 2 seed for the west side, will face the Huntington Locomo- tives, No. 3 seed for the east side, at 2:45 p.m. Thursday. The winner will play the Jor- dan Valley Mustangs (No. 1, east) at 7:45 p.m. Friday. Dayville/Monument (No. 3, west) will face the Adrian Antelopes (No. 2, east) at 8:45 p.m. Thursday. The winner will play the Crane Mustangs (No. 1, west) at 2:45 p.m. Friday. The winners of Friday’s games will play in the cham- pionship game at 5:45 p.m. Saturday for the fi rst and second seed to state, and the losers of Friday’s games will play for third seed to state at 12:45 p.m. Saturday. Prairie City vs. Dayville/ Monument Friday’s game one between Enterprise (No. 2) vs. Hep- pner (No. 3) in the champi- onship game on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. The tournament cham- pion is the No. 1 seed to state. The loser is the No. 2 seed to state. The loser of game one will play the winner of No. 4 Union versus No. 5. Stan- fi eld on Friday at 7:45 p.m. in game three. The winner will be third place in the BMC but will not advance to state; however, the third- or fourth-place team could receive one of the open bids for state — this is the case for the girls, but not the boys. Panther girls hold out for 4-point win over Tigers Teams seeded 2 and 3 in west for districts By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Grant Union Prospec- tors overcame the formidable Enterprise Outlaws 64-54 on Friday in John Day. After being down 12-11 in the fi rst quarter, Grant Union came back for a 4-point lead in the second. Prospector Tanner Elliott hit 5 of 6 free throws, and Tristan Morris and Devon Stokes both landed 3-point shots. Grant Union led 34-30 going into halftime. The intensity went up several notches in the third for the Prospectors as they scored 21 points while hold- ing the Outlaws to 7. Jacob Vaughan sank two 3-pointers for Grant Union, and Elliott and Morris scored 4 points each. Stokes scored off a steal, and Taylor Hunt added 2 when Vaughan picked up the Outlaw’s loose ball. Enterprise outscored Grant Union 17-9 in the fourth, but the Prospectors continued to battle for the 10-point win. “We’re getting closer to the end of the season,” said Grant Union head coach Kelsey Wright. “We had all week to prepare and saw where their weak spots were. We were in the right places at the right time.” He said his team was who also sank a 3-point shot in the fi rst quarter. “Going into the district tournament No. 1 is an amaz- ing feeling,” she said. “We kept our intensity high the whole game, and it paid off.” She added, “I’d like to thank the community for coming out and supporting us and being an awesome crowd.” Grant Union defeated the Stanfi eld Tigers 53-47 on the road Saturday. The 2A Blue Mountain Conference tournament is next Friday and Saturday at the Pendleton Convention Center. Grant Union, seeded No. 1, will play the winner of The Prairie City Pan- thers girls basketball team held on for a 35-31 win over the Dayville/ Monument Tigers Feb. 5 in Prairie City. “It’s always a battle” when it comes to compet- ing with Dayville/Mon- ument, said Prairie City head coach Bo Workman. “We’re pretty equal, and they’re always pretty competitive with us,” he said. Prairie City had a good handle on the game with an 8-2 lead in the fi rst quarter and 17-7 at the half. At one point in the third, after Prairie City junior Emily Ennis landed a 3-pointer, the Panthers led by 13 points. The Tigers kept their intensity up and nar- rowed the Panthers’ lead to 6 points going into the fi nal eight minutes. Prairie City’s Hailee Wall started off with a 2-pointer in the fourth. A short time later, Tiger Faythe Schafer wrangled the ball away to score 2, Kyla Emerson added 1-2 at the free-throw line and Courtney Nichols drained a 3-pointer to bring Day- ville/Monument within 2 points of Prairie City, 32-30. Panther Rilee Emmel brought Prairie City fans to their feet when she scored a 2-point shot with about 12 seconds to go. In a fi nal effort, Scha- fer added 1 point at the free-throw line with 9.5 seconds to go. Then Pan- ther Katie Hire added 1 point for Prairie City. “I defi nitely think it was a confi dence booster for us, and I think it will help us going into dis- tricts with a more posi- tive feeling,” Ennis said. “The fi rst half we were slow and not making shots,” said Tiger Denali Twehues. “I thought the third quarter we came out strong and aggressive. We’re going to move on and look forward to dis- tricts next weekend.” Dayville/Monu- ment head coach Tay- lor Schmadeka said shots that would normally go in for them didn’t fall. “(We) had a good third quarter to get us back into the game, as well as a strong fourth, but just not enough to close the game,” he said. “I’m very proud of the girls for coming back when we struggled in the fi rst half — that is not easy to do. Prairie City played a tough game on their home court and are well coached.” Coach Workman said his team played well defensively. “Rilee played good defense up top against the guards,” he said. “Hailee Wall plays strong down low, and Abbey Pfefferkorn had some good offensive rebounds for the night,” he said. “Sam Workman (Samantha) always gets to the basket and fi nishes well.” The Panthers defeated Long Creek/Ukiah 51-20 in Long Creek on Fri- day, and beat Burnt River 45-24 in Prairie City during the Panthers’ senior recognition game. Dayville/Monument hosted two games in Monument, defeating Harper 29-18 on Friday and beating Long Creek/ Ukiah 47-22 on Saturday during the Tigers’ senior night. The 1A High Desert League Tournament is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 14-16, at Grant Union Junior-Senior High School in John Day. Dayville/Monument, No. 2 seed for the west side, will face the Harper Hornets, No. 3 seed for the east side, at 1 p.m. Thursday. The winner will play the Jordan Val- ley Mustangs (No. 1, east) at 6 p.m. Friday. Prairie City (No. 3, west) will face the Adrian Antelopes (No. 2, east) at 7 p.m. Thurs- day. The winner will play the Crane Mustangs (No. 1, west) at 1 p.m. Friday. The winners of Fri- day’s games will play in the championship match, deciding the fi rst and sec- ond seed to state. The los- ers of Friday’s games will play each other at 11 a.m. Saturday for the third seed to state. There will be play- off games on Feb. 20 and Feb. 23 to decide who competes in the OSAA Girls Basketball State Championship tour- nament scheduled for Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 28-March 2, at Baker High School.
