PAGE LABEL
BlueMountainEagle.com
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
A9
WEDNESDAY
February 20, 2019
Prairie City boys beat Crane by 1 in district championship
Panthers will host
for round two of
state Feb. 22
PRAIRIE CITY STATS
Syd Holman: 14 points (4-6
free throws)
Levi Burke: 10
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Prairie City Pan-
ther boys basketball team is
moving on to the state play-
offs, hosting a second round
game on Friday, after win-
ning the championship title
at the Feb. 14-16 District 8
High Desert Tournament.
The team is in celebra-
tion mode after defeating the
Crane Mustangs 46-45 Sat-
urday night in John Day.
The win, at the packed
Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School gym, was a
repeat for Prairie City, which
also had a second-place fi n-
ish at state last year.
The Panthers, entering
the tournament as the No.
2 seed for the west, reached
the championship game
after defeating the Hun-
tington Locomotives (No. 3
east) 80-34 on Thursday and
the Jordan Valley Mustangs
(No. 1 east) 70-58 on Friday.
Saturday’s contest came
down to the last second —
when Panther Lucas McKin-
ley shot the ball, it rolled off
the rim and Levi Burke took
it up to score for the lead
with 1.1 seconds left on the
clock.
“When I hit the shot
Cole Deiter: 8
Jojari Field: 7 (one 3-point-
er, 2-2 free throws)
Lucas McKinley: 7 (3-7 free
throws)
The Prairie City Panthers basketball team, left to right: head coach Sam Workman, Jonathan
Lawrence, Brett Copenhaver, Marcus Judd, Jayden Winegar, Levi Burke, Syd Holman (holding
ball), Jojari Field, Declan Zweygardt, Lucas McKinley, Brandon Horrell, Cole Deiter, Opie McDaniel,
Carson McKay and Kaden Madden. Lane Williams, not pictured, is also a member of the team.
Prairie City Panther Syd
Holman, named player of
the game, scores over Crane
defender Chase Joyce in
Saturday night’s District 8
championship game.
I tried to stay calm, but I
couldn’t help freaking out,”
Burke said.
Crane’s fi nal attempt
didn’t fall, and the Panthers
came away with another dis-
trict tournament title.
Prairie City knew the
Mustangs would present a
challenge as the Panthers
lost a 65-55 game in Crane
Jan. 29 — one of only two
losses on the season, the
other to Jordan Valley 53-51
on Feb. 1. The Panthers also
defeated Crane 77-45 on
Jan. 18 in Prairie City.
Crane was the No. 1 seed
from the west entering the
tournament.
On Saturday night, Prai-
The Mustangs called a
full timeout. Then Crane’s
Jacob Dunn was fouled and
hit 1-2 at the free-throw line,
with 51 seconds left.
Joyce was next at the
free-throw line but was
unable to score as Panther
fans made noise.
Then Burke scored for
the win.
During the timeout
before the winning shot,
Workman told the team “to
go to the basket for an offen-
sive rebound and a put back
— that’s what they did,” he
said.
“We’re all excited now,”
the coach said. “We played
good together.”
Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter
rie City led 16-7 in the fi rst
quarter, and Crane took
a 26-20 lead going into
halftime.
The Panthers came back
with fury after the break.
“We went in the locker
room, and I said we’ve got
to keep moving more with-
out the ball,” said Prai-
rie City head coach Sam
Workman.
Crane’s Chase Joyce hit a
3-point shot near the start of
the third, and his teammate
Peyton Kreuger added 3 near
the end. Prairie City’s Levi
Burke, Cole Deiter and Jojari
Field combined for 12 points
in those eight minutes.
Deiter blocked a Crane
shooter’s attempt early in the
quarter and, with one minute
left, stole the ball, scoring on
a fast break.
Kreuger’s 3-pointer tied
the score 32-32 going into
the fi nal quarter.
The teams knotted up
the score 34-34, then 38-38.
Crane’s head coach Matt
Zander called a time out.
Joyce scored 2, and
another timeout was called
with 3:40 left to go, Crane
leading 40-38.
Crane players Jake Dunn
and Kreuger and Panther
Syd Holman traded scor-
ing twice, then Holman tied
it 44-44 when he scored off
a steal.
Holman was named
player of the game.
“I think it’s pretty cool
that we can all come together
as a family, as brothers, and
have that satisfaction of win-
ning,” Holman said. “Being
able to play through what we
faced, it shows how strong
our connection is.”
McKinley said the win
was a relief.
“It was a rough start, so
I’m glad we were able to
pull it off,” he said.
Field said, if they keep
it up, they’ll make it to the
state championship game,
like last year.
“Every single player on
this team — each person
has their own special role,
and that’s the reason we
won,” he said. “We’ve built
a strong brotherhood.”
Crane’s coach said his
boys “played their hearts
out.”
“Congratulations to (Prai-
rie City),” he said. “They’re
a great team.”
Grant Union girls host Gervais in state playoff Feb. 23
Lady Pros place
second at district
tourney
GRANT UNION
STATS
Hailie Wright: 14 points
(one 3-pointer, 1-3 free
throws), 3 rebounds, 2
assists, 1 steal
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The No. 5 Grant Union
Prospector girls will host the
No. 12 Gervais Cougars for
a round one state basketball
playoff at 2 p.m. Saturday
in John Day, and the winner
will continue on to the Feb.
28-March 2 OSAA State
Basketball Championship
Tournament in Pendleton.
Grant Union, league
champions of the Blue
Mountain Conference (11-
2), fi nished second at the
BMC Tournament on Satur-
day with a 62-57 loss to the
Heppner Mustangs.
The Prospectors had a
good start with a 16-14 lead
in the fi rst quarter. However,
Heppner moved ahead 33-23
going into halftime and out-
scored Grant Union 17-9 in
the third.
Kaytlyn Wells: 10, 10 re-
bounds,
Kaylee Wright: 4 (2-2 free
throws), 4 rebounds, 3
assists, 1 block, 3 steals
Contributed photo
The Grant Union girls placed second at the Blue Mountain Conference District Tournament on Feb. 16 in Pendleton. From left:
Kaylee Wright, Soren Caudill, Madi McKrola, Hailie Wright, Tiler Voigt, Carson Weaver, Taylor Blood, Baylee Combs, Kaytlyn
Wells, Marissa Smith, Alcie Moore and Abby Lusco.
Grant Union started a
comeback in the fourth, scor-
ing 25 points to Heppner’s
12, but was unable to catch
up.
“Heppner is a great
team, and they played hard
throughout the game,” said
Grant Union head coach
Kristi Moore.
“We dug ourselves a hole
in the third quarter,” she said.
“The girls stepped it up in
the fourth quarter, but we
couldn’t fully recover from
the defi cit. I am proud of
them for fi ghting to the very
last second.”
Prospector Madi McKrola
led her team in scoring with
19 points, followed by Hai-
lie Wright with 14. For Hep-
pner, Sydney Wilson scored
a game-high 31 points.
Receiving BMC All-
League recognition are
seniors Hailie Wright and
Kaylee Wright, fi rst team,
and senior Madi McKrola,
second team.
Grant Union’s high rank-
ing earned the team a home
playoff game.
“The team is motivated
and positive going into this
week,” Moore said. “We
are going to work hard and
focus on the things that we
do best.”
Grant Union has a 9-4
league record, 17-5 overall.
They’ve scored 1,276 points
overall and have allowed 943.
Gervais has a 10-4 league
record, 18-8 overall. They’ve
scored 1,199 points overall
and have allowed 917.
Although Moore said she
doesn’t know much about the
team, she knows they’re from
a strong league, the Tri-River
Conference, which includes
Grant Union’s Drew Lusco earns district championship title
Two Prospector
boys wrestlers
advance to state
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant Union Prospector
wrestler Drew Lusco won
the championship title at the
OSAA 2A/1A Special Dis-
trict 4 Tournament, wres-
tling at 285, and Russell
Hodge placed second, wres-
tling at 182.
The two juniors advance
to the Friday-Saturday,
Feb. 22-23, OSAA State
Wrestling Championships
at the Portland Veterans
Coliseum.
Grant Union, led by head
coach Andy Lusco, placed
third with 15 wrestlers scor-
ing 130 points at the district
tournament hosted by Pine
Eagle in Halfway.
Culver placed fi rst with
23 wrestlers scoring 340
points, and Pine Eagle
placed second with 13
wrestlers scoring 179.
“I felt like we achieved
close to our maximum
potential,” said coach
Lusco. “Culver was very
good as a team, and Pine
Eagle
had
an awesome
tournament
—
credit
to them for
taking both
trophies.”
Drew Lusco
D r e w
Lusco (38-1)
had byes in
the quarter-
and
semi-
fi nals, then
defeated
Klint Nor-
ton (26-11) Russell Hodge
of Enterprise
by a 7-0 decision to win
the championship title. He
scored 20 team points.
He said he hadn’t wres-
tled Norton this year.
“It was a tougher match
than I expected,” Drew
Lusco said. “I’m excited
for the opportunity to go to
state again.”
He won the state cham-
pionship title in the 285
bracket last year, win-
ning in triple over-
time. As a freshman, he
placed fourth, wrestling at
220.
Hodge (22-6), wrestling
at 182, had a bye in the quar-
terfi nal, then pinned Isaac
Anores of Culver (8-11). In
the fi rst place match, he was
Contributed photo
Grant Union Prospector junior Drew Lusco won the
285-pound state championship title on Saturday at the
District 4 Tournament in Halfway.
defeated by Joseph Russo
(29-12) of Culver by a 4-1
decision. Hodge then won
by rule over Anores for sec-
ond place. He earned 18
team points.
“Russo was a good
match,” Hodge said. “It was
the fi rst time I wrestled him,
and he was probably the
hardest one.”
Hodge said he’s excited
to compete at the state cham-
pionships again.
“This year, I have a better
opportunity, because I’m not
injured,” he said. “Last year,
I had a separated shoulder.”
Freshman Justin Hodge
(36-14) placed third and
scored 19 team points, wres-
tling at 145. Hodge wrestled
in seven matches and was
defeated by Logan Butcher
of Imbler (32-7) by a 5-3
decision.
Damion Young (28-14), a
senior, earned fourth place at
145 after he was defeated by
teammate Justin Hodge by a
15-2 decision. Young earned
18 team points.
Sophomore Ethan Moore
placed fourth wrestling at
106 for 14 points, and soph-
omore Quinten Hallgarth
placed fourth wrestling at
170 for 10 points.
Additionally,
fresh-
man Sam McCracken, 120,
placed fi fth; sophomore Ben
Henry, 126, placed sixth;
sophomore Logan McClus-
key, 152, placed sixth; and
Ashley Henry, 120, placed
sixth (placing at both the
girls and boys district
tournament).
Coach Lusco said he was
pleased to see 10 wrestlers
make it to the podium.
“We have a young team,
and I am thrilled to see us
move up to third as a team
after fi nishing the fi rst day
in fi fth and falling to sixth
to start the second day,”
coach Lusco said. “Obvi-
ously we’d have liked to
take a couple more to state,
but they are young and get
to come back next season
for another opportunity.”
Madi McKrola: 19 (3-6 free
throws), 8 rebounds, 3
assists, 1 block, 5 steals
Marissa Smith: 5 (one
3-pointer), 4 rebounds, 1
steal
Baylee Combs: 6 (2-2 free
throws), 1 rebound, 1 steal
Abby Lusco: 1 (1-2 free
throws), 1 steal
Kennedy and Culver.
“We hope the commu-
nity will come support these
girls as they have worked
hard, not only this year, but
for the past four years,” she
said.
SPORTS
SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, FEB. 22
Prairie City boys basketball
hosts round two 1A state
playoff , opponent and time
TBD
Grant Union boys wrestling
@ 2A state championships
at Portland Veterans Colise-
um, 4 p.m.
SATURDAY, FEB. 23
Grant Union boys and
girls wrestling @ 2A state
championships at Portland
Veterans Coliseum, 8:30 a.m.
Grant Union girls basketball
hosts round one 2A state
playoff vs. Gervais, 2 p.m.
Grant Union Gold dance
team @ Pendleton competi-
tion, TBD
WEDNESDAY,
FEB. 27
Quarterfi nals of the boys 1A
state basketball champion-
ships at Baker High School,
time and teams TBD
THURSDAY, FEB. 28
Quarterfi nals of the girls 2A
state basketball champion-
ships at Pendleton Conven-
tion Center, time and teams
TBD