Grant Union’s Talon VanCleave drives to the basket during his team’s matchup with Irrigon on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023 at Grant Union High School.

The Grant Union boys basketball team struck gold against Irrigon, bouncing back from a dismantling at the hands of Stanfield the day prior to throttle the Knights 60-45 on Friday, Jan. 27, at Grant Union High School.

The Prospectors started slow, finding themselves down through the entirety of the first quarter. The Knights would take a slim 15-11 lead into the second quarter before the Pros would regroup and take control.

A 7-2 Pros run to start the second quarter erased the deficit, giving Grant Union an 18-17 lead to force an Irrigon timeout. Relying on opportunistic three-point shooting and relentless defense, the Pros went on a 14-2 run to close the first half to forge a 32-19 lead.

The Pros held the Knights to just four points in the second quarter.

Grant Union’s hot shooting would continue to open the second half, with the Pros extending their lead to 48-25 with just over 3:00 left in the third quarter. The Pros would end the third with a stranglehold on the game and a 50-29 lead headed into the final quarter of play.

The Knights had their highest-scoring quarter of the game in the fourth, but it was academic at that point. Irrigon’s 16 points wouldn’t have been enough to erase the Pro lead even if Grant Union had failed to score at all in the period.

The 10 points the Pros added in the fourth amounted to little more than insurance as they defeated the Knights 60-45 for a much-needed Blue Mountain Conference win.

Leading the way for Grant Union on offense was Ryland Beil, who finished with 11 points on 4-5 shooting from the field and 2-2 from three-point land. Talon VanCleave and Sheldon Lenz added 10 points apiece for the Pros.

Statistically, the game was fantastic for the Pros while leaving some room for improvement. Grant Union shot almost 50% from the field (24-50) and eclipsed the 50% mark from the three-point line (9-16). The Pros also outrebounded the Knights 35-27.

There were some things the Pros needed to clean up. Grant Union turned the ball over 21 times to Irrigon’s seven and shot just 3-11 from the free throw line (although the Knights attempted only three free-throws the entire game).

Grant Union coach RC Huerta acknowledged his team’s slow start, saying the players’ mindset had a lot to do with overcoming early game jitters.

“We just had positive attitudes about it, they weren’t really too flustered. We just kept shooting, kept getting good looks and finally took the lid off and it worked out,” he said.

Huerta also acknowledged his team’s great day from beyond the arc, saying it is something they’ve worked on for a while.

“We struggled shooting the three ball early in the year … so we just put more time in shooting them. Kids nowadays like to shoot the three ball, and most of them are pretty good at it,” Huerta said.

“I’ve always said, as long as it’s within the flow of the offensive sets and you get a good open look, take the shot,” he added.

The team’s defensive effort was one of the best of the season as well and wasn’t overlooked by Huerta.

“Defense wins championships, so you have to be able to play a good, solid defensive game,” he said. “When you come against good teams, you better be good defensively because they’re still going to make shots. You’ve got to be able to put pressure on them and get them out of the flow of their game.”

The win puts Grant Union at 9-11 on the season with a very respectable 5-2 mark in league play. The Pros will be in action next when they host Stanfield on Friday, Jan. 3. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.