SPORTS
BlueMountainEagle.com
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Girls
Continued from Page A10
Grant Union Prospector
Alcie Moore drives down
the court with Gervais
Cougar Katie Hanson
(20) hot on her trail.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
“They all contributed
and executed,” Moore said,
adding the team worked
together for the opportunity
to be at the state tournament.
“They deserve this,” she
said. “It’s an honor to coach
them, and we look forward
to our fi rst game Thursday.”
Gervais head coach Kyle
Buse said this was the fi rst
time this group of girls has
been to the playoffs.
“I think we came out, and
we put ourselves in a hole,
but they kept fi ghting,” he
said. “They were up against
a tough challenge.”
He said his team will
grow from this experience.
“We had an intense
game,” Hailie Wright said.
“I think that’s what overall
won us the game.”
She added, “It’s always
exciting to play at a state
tournament, and we’re
going to go over there and
compete.”
Wells said their defense
made the difference.
“We’ve always had great
offense, but defense is what
will win us games at state,”
she said. “I’m really proud
of how everyone played,
and we kept pushing no mat-
ter how far we were up.”
Looking
ahead
to
Thursday, Grant Union
Boys
Continued from Page A10
City outscored Dufur 14-13
to keep a 30-16 lead going
into halftime break.
The majority of bleacher
seats were fi lled with Pan-
ther fans, many waving
orange bandanas as they
cheered.
The Rangers narrowed
the margin to 8 points in
the third when Tanner Mas-
terson and Daniel Radcliffe
combined for 6 points at the
start.
However, Field, Burke
and Deiter went after the
rebounds and outscored
Dufur 21-16. McKinley
sank a 3-pointer in the quar-
ter, and Ranger Cooper
Bales landed two 3-point-
ers, including a long shot at
the buzzer.
In the fi nal 8 minutes,
Dufur outscored Prairie
City 17-15, but the Panthers
took the 17-point win.
Dufur head coach Hol-
lie Darden said his team
has come a long way since
last year, when they didn’t
make it to their district
tournament.
“This year, we made it
to districts,” he said. “We
went and beat Joseph in a
hostile environment in the
fi rst round, a team who had
beaten us earlier during the
season.”
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
The Prairie City Panthers, led by head coach Sam Workman, celebrate after ringing the celebration bell, which signals they’re
moving on to the state championship tournament. From left: Jayden Winegar (11), Brandon Horrell (12), Syd Holman (23),
Lucas McKinley (22), Cole Deiter (back), Declan Zweygardt (20), Marcus Judd, Jojari Field (3), Jonathan Lawrence (back), Opie
McDaniel (5), Caden Madden (behind McDaniel), Brett Copenhaver and Levi Burke (behind Copenhaver).
He said he was proud of
the character shown by his
team and how well they
played defensively.
“Obviously, Prairie was
a little bit more athletic on
this given night,” coach
Darden said. “They had
some kids that really came
to play and kind of domi-
nated us physically. I was
proud of their effort and
proud of them for making
it this far into the playoffs,
and hopefully we’ll come
back next year.”
and Coquille are closely
matched.
The Prospectors are No.
5 among OSAA’s 2A teams
with an 18-5 overall record,
11-2 in league. They’ve
scored 1,345 points and
allowed 990 points.
Coquille is ranked No. 4
with a 25-1 overall record,
12-0 in league. They’ve
scored 1,545 points and
allowed 787 points.
This is Grant Union’s
third consecutive trip to
the state tournament. Last
year, they fi nished in fourth
place with Casey Hallgarth
as head coach, and the pre-
vious year the team fi nished
sixth when Mark Mosley
was head coach.
McKinley said he’s
excited to make a second
trip to the state tournament
with his team. Last year, the
Panthers had a second-place
fi nish at state.
“We got the ball inside
and played good fundamen-
tal basketball,” he said of
the night’s game.
Holman said they talked
about this being their last
home game.
“We are an unstoppable
train right now — Baker,
we’re coming,” he said.
Burke said the most
memorable part of the night
was how they played as a
team.
“Everybody on the team
was in it to win it,” he said.
“We have some experience
now. Last year it was like
deer in the headlights.”
Thinking about the
upcoming games, Burke
said, “We have a big red tar-
get on our backs right now.”
Panther head coach Sam
Workman said it was a team
effort that won the night’s
game.
“I’m proud of them,”
he said. “It’s fun to watch
when they’re playing like
this.”
He said, at halftime, he
simply told them “keep
doing what you’re doing.”
He said they’ll take the
same approach in their game
with Sherman — “keep
playing good basketball.”
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