SPORTS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
A7
PANTHERS PUNCH THEIR TICKET
Prairie City basketball teams move on to state
tournament after third-place finish at districts
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
J
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
Prairie City junior Betty Ann Wilson cele-
brates after the Panthers beat Adrian to
clinch a state playoff berth on Saturday, Feb.
19, 2022. Wilson scored 28 and was named
Player of the Game.
OHN DAY — The Prairie City boys
and girls basketball teams are heading
into the postseason after their respec-
tive third-place finishes at the High
Desert League District Basketball
Tournament over the weekend.
Held at Grant Union High School, the dis-
trict tournament featured six girls squads and
six boys squads from the 12-team High Desert
League, with the top three teams in each bracket
moving on to the state tourney.
In addition to Prairie City, the other partici-
pants were Crane, Jordan Valley, Adrian, Hun-
tington and Four Rivers.
On the boys side, Crane took first place,
defeating Adrian 76-62 on Saturday, Feb. 19.
Crane’s girls earned the top spot, besting Jordan
Valley 44-31 earlier in the day.
The three-day tournament, which has a
15-year history in Grant County, returned after
a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pan-
demic, bringing some much-needed economic
activity to the area. Hotels, restaurants and cof-
fee shops saw a significant uptick in business
with hundreds of out-of-town guests from the
games.
Tournament co-director Billy Colson noted
that visiting teams, coaches and fans stay in
local motels, eat in local restaurants, and spend
money at local stores and gas stations, bringing
money into the Grant County economy from
outside the area.
Colson calculates that the event brings
roughly 350 to 400 visitors to the county. His
estimate is based on a traveling team bringing
around 30 players and coaches per school plus
a comparable number of supporters traveling
with each group.
Tammy Bremner, manager of the Grant
County Chamber of Commerce, said hotels and
restaurants rely on sporting events for supple-
mental income during the winter.
“It’s a nice little shot in the arm for the busi-
nesses this time of year,” she said. “Especially
because this usually is their slow time.”
Prairie City basketball survives and advances
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — The Prairie City
Panthers aren’t done playing just yet.
Both the boys and girls basketball
teams are heading into the postsea-
son after both squads finished third in
the 1A-8 High Desert League’s sea-
son-ending district tournament, held
Thursday, Feb. 17, through Saturday,
Feb. 19, at Grant Union High School.
Crane swept both brackets in the
tournament in Saturday’s champion-
ship games. The girls bested Jordan
Valley 44-31, and the boys defeated
Adrian 76-62.
The top three finishers from each
side of the tournament advance to state,
so while the Prairie City squads fell
short of a district title, both will move
on to postseason play.
Prairie City girls
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
Prairie City’s Tucker Wright (left) and Marcus Judd cele-
brate the Panthers’ state playoff berth on Saturday, Feb.
19, 2022, after knocking off Jordan Valley at the High Des-
ert League District Basketball Tournament at Grant Union.
After knocking off Four Rivers
38-15 in the first game of the compe-
tition on Thursday, Feb. 17, the Lady
Panthers fell to Jordan Valley 51-31 on
Friday, Feb. 18.
But they came back in Saturday’s
consolation game, defeating Adrian
55-40 to lock up a state playoff berth.
Betty Ann Wilson scored 28 points
See State, Page A8
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
Prairie City’s Laken McKay, second from right, dives for a loose ball Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022,
during the High Desert League tourney.
“(SATURDAY’S GAME) WAS PROBABLY OUR BEST
GAME OF THE SEASON, IN MY OPINION,”
Betty Ann Wilson
GU boy grapplers 5th at district meet
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
ADRIAN — Two Grant
Union wrestlers are heading
to the state tournament next
weekend.
Justin Hodge and Rylan
Cox took first and second in
their respective weight classes
over the weekend at the Ore-
gon School Activities Associ-
ation 2A/1A Special District 4
Wrestling Tournament on Fri-
day, Feb. 18.
The Prospectors took fifth
overall in the contest.
The Pros competed against
wrestlers from 12 schools. Grant
Union’s grapplers, as a team,
had 112.5 points.
Hodge took first in the 152
weight bracket, while Ryan
Coombs took eighth. Sam
McCracken took sixth in the 160
weight bracket.
Alex Finley took fourth in his
170 weight division, while Zack
Ostberg took fifth in his 220
weight division. Cox took sec-
ond in the 285 weight bracket,
while Rolando Moreno took
fourth. Tanler Fuller took fifth in
the 138 weight division.
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle, File
Prospector grappler Justin Hodge wrestles Jan. 21, 2022, at the Grant Union
Tournament. Hodge took first in his weight division at the OSAA 2A/1A Spe-
cial District 4 Wrestling Tournament on Friday, Feb. 18, and will wrestle at the
state tournament this weekend in Culver.
SPORTS
SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 23
Prairie City Girls Basketball @
Rogue Valley, 4 p.m., Medford
THURSDAY, FEB. 24
Grant Union Girls Wrestling @
State Wrestling Tournament, 9 a.m.,
Culver
SATURDAY, FEB. 26
Grant Union Boys Wrestling @
State Wrestling Tournament, 9 a.m.,
Culver
Grant Union Dance Team @ Pend-
leton Dance Competition, 10 a.m.,
Pendleton High School