Prairie City boys will play Nixyaawii in semifinals Friday

Published 9:57 am Thursday, February 28, 2019

The Prairie City Panther boys basketball team pulled out a 52-48 win over the Sherman Huskies in a close quarterfinal match at the OSAA 1A State Championship tournament Wednesday in Baker City.

Prairie City’s Levi Burke scored the first 2 points of the game off an assist from Jojari Field.

The teams tied the score twice in the first quarter with Sherman leading 16-11 going into the second. The Huskies had a 26-22 lead at halftime.

The teams knotted up the score twice in the third, and Sherman pulled ahead 43-34 heading into the final eight minutes of play.

In the fourth, Sherman hit two of nine attempts from the field and sank 1-3 at the free-throw line.

Prairie City landed six of eight attempts from the field, and making a big difference in the final 2 minutes were Cole Deiter, Syd Holman and Lucas McKinley who each went 2-2 at the free-throw line for the Panthers’ win.

The Panthers, led by head coach Sam Workman, will face the Nixyaawii Golden Eagles in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Baker High School.

Prairie City is ranked No. 9 among OSAA’s 1A teams with a 26-2 overall record, 11-2 in the High Desert League. The Panthers won the District 8 tournament. Prairie City has scored 1,925 total points and allowed 1,232.

Nixyaawii is ranked No. 5 with a 26-2 overall record, 12-0 in the Old Oregon League. The Golden Eagles won the District 7 tournament. Nixyaawii has scored 1,981 points and allowed 1,189.

Prairie City stats

Jojari Field: 4 points, 2-6, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

Levi Burke: 15 points, 7-17 (1-2 free throws), 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, 1 steal

Lucas McKinley: 12 points, 4-12 (two 3-pointers, 1-2 free throws), 2 rebounds

Syd Holman: 8 points, 2-6 (4-4 free throws), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals

Cole Deiter: 11 points, 4-7 (3-4 free throws), 5 rebounds, 2 blocks

Marcus Judd: 1 rebound

Declan Zweygardt: 2 points, 1-1

As a team, Prairie City  shot 41 percent from the field and sank 10-13 free throws for 77 percent.

Their shooting percentage went up in the second half from 35 percent to 48 percent.

Sherman stats

Wade Fields: 12 points, 5-11 (two 3-pointers), 4 rebounds, 1 steal

Keenan Coles: 13 points, 6-10 (1-2 free throws), 8 rebounds, 2 steals

Tyler Jones: 6 points, 2-6 (2-3 free throws)

Luke Martin: 10 points, 4-9 attempts (2-2 free throws), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals

Caleb Fritts: 7 points, 3-11 (1-2 free throws), 1 assist, 1 steal

Owen Christiansen: 1 rebound

Nick Riggs

As a team, Sherman shot 41 percent from the field and sank 6-10 free throws for 60 percent.

Their shooting percentage fell in the second half from 44 percent to 38 percent.