Prairie City boys advance to district tourney’s championship game

Published 9:28 pm Friday, February 15, 2019

The Prairie City Panther boys basketball team knocked out a 70-58 win over the Jordan Valley Mustangs at Friday’s 1A-8 High Desert District Tournament to advance to Saturday’s championship contest.

In Saturday’s battle the Panthers will face the Crane Mustangs at 5:45 p.m. Crane beat the Adrian Antelopes 62-28 on Friday at the tournament.

Prairie City entered the tournament as the west’s No. 2 seed. Jordan Valley was the No. 1 seed for the east side and Crane is No. 1 for the west.

Prairie City head coach Sam Workman said he felt good about Friday night’s win over Jordan Valley.

“Jordan Valley is always a tough team to play,” he said, adding his team “moved the ball well, executed well and made their shots.”

Workman commented about their upcoming game.

“It’s going to be another ‘goat fight,'” he said. “Crane, Jordan Valley and Prairie City is a big ring of dogs.”

Jordan Valley’s Zeke Quintero was a powerhouse for the Mustangs scoring a game high 36 points; however, Prairie City overcame that challenge with four starters scoring in double digits.

The Mustangs are led by head coach Alek Quintero.

Prairie City started off strong with a 15-9 lead in the first, and they were ahead 29-22 going into halftime.

The Panthers extended that 7-point lead in the third. Jordan Valley’s long pass at the start went right into the hands of Prairie City’s Cole Deiter who scored 2.

After the Mustangs added 2, the Panthers went on a 11-point scoring frenzy with Syd Holman hitting 2-2 from the free-throw line and Jojari Field stealing with an assist to Holman for 2 more.

Prairie City climbed to a 14-point lead and their fans, packing the stands chanted “Panther Power!”

The Panthers headed in the fourth with a 51-36 point lead.

Burke led the Panthers with 19 points, followed by Cole Deiter with 16.

Deiter, who was named player of the game, had 16 points with several assists and rebounds.

Lucas McKinley scored 14, including three 3-pointers, Field had 12 and Holman 9.

Panther Levi Burke said their team effort was spread out.

“Everybody was engaged, and we all knew what we had to do,” he said.

Cole Deiter added, “We just all stepped up, and we’re ready for Crane.”

Prairie City stats

Levi Burke: 19 points (two 3-pointers, 1-2 free throws)

Cole Deiter: 16 (2-3 free throws)

Lucas McKinley: 14 (three 3-pointers, 3-4 free throws)

Jojari Field: 12 (one 3-pointer, 5-5 free throws)

Syd Holman: 9 (5-7 free throws)

Jordan Valley stats

Zeke Quintero: 36 points (2 three-pointers, 2-7 free throws)

Kort Skinner: 10

Jace Grenke: 6 (two 3-pointers)

Don Youren: 6