Grant Union's McKenzie Wilson takes the ball down the court in the game against Imbler.

JOHN DAY – The Prospector basketball teams tamed the Imbler Panthers last Saturday.

Grant Union student fans dressed in camo for the home game, showing their confidence that their teams would win the night’s battles.

The Lady Prospectors dominated for a 42-15 win, while the Prospector boys clinched a 58-55 win over Imbler.

The Grant Union girls hit the throttle early, with Kori Pentzer and Heather Mosley making a beeline for all the shots in the first half. Pentzer had 19 and Mosley, 9.

Four of their teammates got in on the scoring in the second half.

The success was a solid rebound from the girls’ 38-41 loss to Cove on the road Friday.

“It was good to see us step up and recover,” said head coach Mark Mosley.

“You worry about coming off a game we should have had – mentally, it’s hard sometimes, so I was glad to see that,” he said. “Our defensive effort was great tonight.”

Prospectors Riley Sharp and McKenzie Wilson said Saturday’s game was a positive turnaround.

“We brought it up from our game last night and played together as a team,” Sharp said.

Wilson added, “We refueled for tonight’s game to make sure we took care of business.”

On Jan. 27, the Lady Pros beat 1A Crane, 47-37, at Grant Union for a nonleague contest.

“Our goal is to win out the rest of the league games,” coach Mosley said. That starts with a home game against Union on Saturday.

The Lady Pros currently sit at third in the Wapiti League, and the top five will compete at the Jan. 20-21 district tournament in La Grande.

The Prospector boys had a slow start against Imbler, but made a good run to take the 20-15 lead in the first quarter.

They were ahead for much of the second quarter, but the Panthers crept up. With just .8 seconds left in the half, the score was tied, and Imbler called a timeout.

Grant Union head coach Steve Speth said what followed was a “well-executed play.”

“They had their best player (Trace VanCleave) coming off of a double screen to catch and shoot for a 3-point shot in the corner,” Speth said. “We had it defended – unfortunately, we fouled him on the shot, and he was able to make all three free-throws to give them the 3-point halftime lead.”

The Pros’ game plan from there, he said, was to “slow VanCleave down, focus on making others take tough shots, and rebound their misses.”

Grant Union’s 6-foot-3 player Nathan Gehley was out for much of the second half due a cut on his arm.

Coach Speth said Wade Reimers and Trace Gill did a “great job slowing VanCleave down and outrebounding Imbler in the second half, despite not having our biggest player available for most the second half.”

With six minutes left in the game, the Pros were down by 5 points, but worked their way back up.

At the 27-second mark, Prospector Mitch Moulton was fouled while attempting a 3-point shot. He sank three at the free-throw line to put Grant Union up 58-55.

“Trace Gill made a great defensive hustle play, diving on the floor for a loose ball to give us the ball at the end with almost no time left,” Speth said.

He said the team showed improvement offensively, taking better shots.

“We were able to make key plays down the stretch to clinch the victory, something we had previously struggled with in close games this season,” he said.

The team toppled Cove 59-38 the previous night in league play and lost a Jan. 28 nonleague game to Crane, 60-61.

Grant Union, currently fourth in the Wapiti league, will host Union, which leads the league, at 4 p.m. Saturday, beginning with the girls game.

Speth said the Pros would love to see even more support from the crowd at that key game.

“A win would keep us in the hunt for moving up to a second- or third-place seeding at our district tournament,” he said.