Placing second in the 1A-8 High Desert District Tournament, the Prairie City Panthers advanced to the state playoffs.

Prairie City will host a Round One state playoff game against the Echo Cougars. The game starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, with doors opening at 6 p.m.

The cost of admission is $6 for adults and $4 students.

Echo, of the Old Oregon League, has a 7-7 league record, 10-16 overall, and is ranked No. 36.

Prairie City has a 12-2 league record, 15-7 overall, and is ranked No. 18.

In the Feb. 16-18 tournament held at Grant Union Junior-Senior High School in John Day, Prairie City had a bye the first day as the No. 2 team in the league.

The Panthers overcame their first challenge on Friday, defeating the Monument/Dayville Tigers 54-46.

Prairie City had control at the start with a 19-7 lead in the first quarter.

Monument/Dayville held the Panthers to four in the second, the Tigers scoring 15 to pull ahead 23-22 at the half.

“At the half, and even before the game, we talked about the pressure of the moment,” said Panther head coach Jonathan Gill. “Those guys, they know each other intimately — all those guys, being 30 miles down the road. So I think the pressure of the moment kind of got to them.”

“I told them you can’t get this far in the season and lose who you are,” he said. “I felt that they’ve worked so hard together, and so my message to them at the half was, guys, you have to do this together. You won’t be able to do it with one player. It’s got to be as a team.”

With less than two minutes left in the third, the teams were tied 33-33, then Prairie City pulled ahead 39-34, going into the fourth.

A highlight from the final quarter was a Panther versus Tiger three-point scoring frenzy, all within two minute’s time.

Prairie City’s Levi Burke scored a three-pointer from the corner, and Monument/Dayville’s Tanner Walczyk answered back with three for the Tigers. Burke again hit a three and Walczyk followed suit. Burke sank another one beyond the arc, bringing Prairie City to a 51-40 lead. Tiger Hayden Schafer also scored a three-point shot, but the clock ticked down for the Panthers’ win.

Panther player Burke said it was a fun game to play with his teammates.

“Being down at the half was kind of scary, but we went in the locker room, cooled each other off, got composed,” he said. “We got it all together in there, and we came back in the third and fourth quarter and got some good shots from the whole team. We were crashing the boards. I felt like I needed to pick it up, so I tried and it worked out.”

Prairie City had a tougher challenge in store, facing the Jordan Valley Mustangs in Saturday’s championship game.

This was the fourth meeting for the teams this season, and the Mustangs had an edge, having previously defeated the Panthers three times.

The teams tied the score several times in the first quarter, Jordan Valley pulling ahead with a 17-12 lead.

Jordan Valley led 37-28 at the half, and although the Panthers came within four points of the Mustangs in the third, Jordan Valley kept pushing ahead.

“I want to say congratulations to the Jordan Valley coach and program,” Gill said. “They won, and they won with class.”

He added he was proud of his team.

“They did everything I asked them to, and they’ve improved all year,” he said. “They fought to the very end. They fought for four quarters, so nothing to hang their head about.”

Panther players Dorran Wilson and Wyatt Williams were recognized as League Scholar Athletes. The award is given to juniors and seniors earning a 3.5 cumulative GPA.

“This year, we had a goal to have no one on the (academic) warning list and no one sitting out a game,” Gill said. “All 12 of the boys, they worked together, they studied with each other. Scholastics come before sports, and these guys are true student athletes.”

The Prairie City boys team also earned the Sportsmanship Award at the tournament.

Speaking of the championship game and the tough games ahead, Gill said, “At this point in the season, when you get to the championship game, it’s not about x’s and o’s, it’s not about the coaches, it’s about the boys and their brotherhood and their family that they’ve built. They can stand on that, and they’ll be just fine.”

High Desert League All-Tournament selections

First Team: Dorran Wilson and Levi Burke

Second Team: Brogan McKrola

Prairie City vs. Monument/Dayville

Levi Burke: 25 points (four three-pointers, 2-2 free throws)

Brogan McKrola: 9 (two three-pointers)

Lucas McKinley: 6 (two three-pointers)

Dorran Wilson: 5 (one three-pointer)

Devin Packard: 4

Wyatt Williams: 3 (one three-pointer)

Syd Holman: 2

Prairie City vs. Jordan Valley

Dorran Wilson: 29 points (one three-pointer)

Levi Burke: 17 (three three-pointers)

Wyatt Williams: 5 (one three-pointer)

Devin Packard: 4

Danner Davis: 2

Syd Holman: 2 (2-2 free-throws)