Basketball victories on the road are sometimes difficult to come by at any time during the season.

However, the Lady Prospectors saved the best for last in the final two games of the regular season winning the Wapiti League championship with a convincing 67-38 victory over the host Joseph squad on Friday, Feb. 20, before coming back with a big 50-47 triumph over Imbler on Saturday, Feb., 21 to bring the league championship trophy home to John Day.

With the victories, the Lady Pros finish the regular season with a 13-1 record in Wapiti League games and 19-5 overall, and are assured a trip to the state 2A playoffs in Pendleton March 4-8.

Grant Union def. Joseph 67-38

JOSEPH – Prospectors’ coach Adam Barrett said the girls got off to a slow start in Friday’s game, falling behind 6-3 in the first quarter.

“We went into Joseph with the idea to save as many legs as we could for Saturday’s game against Imbler,” Barrett said. “We knew we had to beat Joseph on the road which is tough to do in this league, and they have been playing really, really well lately. We struggled for maybe the first two minutes of the game, so I pulled my starters and let them think about it. They got back out there and I think we were down 6-3, and all of a sudden we were up 22-6.”

The Prospectors held a slim 10-6 advantage after the first quarter of play, and then put 27 points on the board in the second period to take a 37-11 halftime lead.

“We just poured it on in the second quarter,” Barrett said.

In the third quarter, Grant Union added an additional 16 points while holding the Eagles to six, to carry a commanding 53-17 lead into the final quarter of the game.

“I was able to get a lot of players in the game tonight, and I didn’t use any of my starters in the fourth quarter,” Barrett said. “We actually took a technical foul at halftime so we could get some of the JV kids in the book, and I used them in the last quarter so we could save legs in the fourth quarter for the Imbler game. We took care of business and shot the ball real well. Whitney Simmons had a big game with a double-double, and Brandi Moles just missed a double-double. Our posts really stepped up.”

Grant Union had three players in double figures led by Moles with 13 points. Ashley Thunell scored 11 and Simmons had 10.

Anna Yost scored a game-high 16 points for Joseph.

Grant Union def. Imbler 50-47

IMBLER – The Prospectors held a 16-14 lead after the first quarter in Saturday’s showdown against Imbler, and then had to battle from behind against the talented Panthers’ squad to earn a 50-47 victory.

Imbler out-scored the Lady Pros 15-10 in the second quarter to hold a 29-26 halftime lead, and then went on a 6-0 run in the third quarter go head into the final eight minutes of action with a 37-33 advantage.

In the final period, Grant Union showed what champions are made of, opening with a 7-0 run to take a 40-37 lead with 5:18 remaining in the game.

The Panthers shaved the lead to a single point on two occasions before a pair of free throws by Amanda Courchesne gave the Prospectors 49-44 lead with 26 seconds remaining in the contest.

Tiffany Rasmussen nailed a three-point shot for Imbler with seven seconds left, but Thunell went 1 for 2 from the line with five seconds showing on the clock to put the game away and give the Lady Pros the victory.

“We came in here with the idea we were going to save a lot of legs from the Joseph game and things worked out,” Barrett said. “I give a lot of credit to Imbler, they came out with a game plan and sat in a 1-3-1 and made us shoot outside shots. We wanted to try to pound it inside to our posts and they shut that part of our game down. One big thing was that we held our composure. We were down seven points at the first part of the game and fought off the run. In the third quarter they were up by nine and we didn’t give up. We made a couple of adjustments during a time out and then came out and executed well and took the lead. Then we held our composure and were poised down the stretch. I have to give these kids a lot of credit, they played hard all year. They had a goal to win the league at the beginning of the season and then went out and did it. We’ve got a bunch of great, great female athletes at the school.”

Courchesne scored 12 points for the Lady Pros, and Thunell had 10.

Rasmussen scored 14 points and teammate Amy Clerget added 13 for Imbler.

Grant Union will face Enterprise in the opening round of the Wapiti League playoffs on Friday, Feb. 28.

The contest is set for 1 p.m. at La Grande High School.