Prairie City Panther Alea Johns makes a jump shot in Thursday's game against Ukiah/Long Creek.

The Prairie City Panther girls’ fiery first quarter made for a comfortable lead Thursday to carry them to a 46-18 win over the Ukiah/Long Creek Mountain Lion junior varsity team in Prairie City.

Before Ukiah/Long Creek could score, Panthers Samantha Workman, Hailee Wall, Katie Hire, Emily Ennis and Abbey Pfefferkorn combined for 14 points in the first five minutes of play.

Ukiah/Long Creek’s Dortha Johnson and Faith Burnette each landed a 3-point shot, and Prairie City led 22-6 going into the second.

Prairie City led 29-9 at the half, and 37-14 in the third.

Ukiah/Long Creek’s Dortha Johnson scored a 3-pointer to start off the fourth.

In the final 2 minutes of play, Ennis scored off a steal, and after some back and forth and a free-throw point from Burnette, Ennis scored the final 2 points of the game.

Workman and Ennis led the Panthers with 8 points each, followed by Hailee Wall with 7.

Dortha Johnson led Ukiah/Long Creek with 8, followed by Faith Burnette with 6.

Ukiah/Long Creek coach Amos Studtmann said the girls were low on energy, and one of their two rebounding talents was unable to play that night.

“It was good experience for them to play against a varsity team to see what it was like,” said Studtmann, who co-coaches with TC Conner. “It’s the best opportunity to grow that we’ve had all year.”

Burnette said she enjoyed playing with her team.

“This is my senior year, so it’s fun to get to know my teammates and spend time with them,” she said.

Prairie City head coach Bo Workman said he tried to get the entire team time on the court.

“The younger girls played well together and moved the ball around and took shots,” he said, adding they had more turnovers than they wanted.

Ten of the 11 Prairie City girls scored.

Cassie Hire, one of the Panthers top scoring varsity players, held off from attempts at the basket.

Prairie City beat Burnt River on Saturday 49-11.

Ukiah/Long Creek fell 56-36 to Monument/Dayville on Saturday in Long Creek.

In their final league games, the Panthers travel to Dayville to face Monument/Dayville at 6 p.m. Friday, and they host Crane at 2 p.m. Saturday.

In the High Desert League standings, Jordan Valley is 10-0, ranked No. 17; Crane is 8-1, ranked No. 14; Adrian is 5-3, ranked No. 19; Prairie City is 5-3, ranked No. 21; Monument/Dayville is 3-5, ranked No. 37; Harper is 2-6; Burnt River is 1-7; and Huntington is 0-9.

The 1A-8 High Desert League Tournament is scheduled for Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 15-17, at the Grant Union Junior-Senior High School gym in John Day.

Prairie City

Samantha Workman: 8 points

Emily Ennis: 8

Hailee Wall: 7

Rilee Emmel: 6

Brianna Zweygardt: 4

Katie Hire: 4

Haley Pfefferkorn: 3

Aleah Johns: 2

Megan Camarena: 2

Abbey Pfefferkorn: 2

Ukiah/Long Creek

Dortha Johnson: 8 points

Faith Burnette: 6

Ximena Millan: 2

Lucchese Douglas: 2