Prairie City/Burnt River's Brooke Teel shoots a midrange jumper during her team's High Desert League tournament semifinal matchup with Jordan Valley on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023 at Grant Union High School. 

JOHN DAY — It was Betty Ann Wilson’s world.

The Prairie City/Burnt River senior had a game-high 21 points to lead her team to the finals of the High Desert League district tournament on Friday, Feb. 17, in John Day as the Lady Panthers defeated top-seeded Jordan Valley 48-44.

The game started as a back-and-forth affair, with Prairie City/Burnt River’s Jaycee Winegar scoring the game’s first basket. The Lady Mustangs would drain a pair of field goals, including an early three-pointer, to take a quick 5-2 lead.

Laken McKay would answer, hitting a three-pointer of her own to tie the game at 5. Prairie City/Burnt River’s Cat Ashley would hit another three to give the Lady Panthers the lead again at 8-5.

The Lady Panthers would find themselves up by a slim 12-11 advantage after one quarter of play. The second quarter began with a Lady Mustang field goal and a midrange jumper by Wilson in response for a 14-13 Lady Panther advantage early.

The Lady Panthers would score four unanswered after Wilson’s field goal, taking their largest lead of the game at 18-13. The Lady Mustangs would hit a pair of three-pointers in response to take a 19-18 lead midway through the second quarter.

The Lady Mustangs would make a pair of free throws after taking the lead to go up 21-18 with just under 4:00 left in the half. The Lady Panthers would score four in a row of their own in response, taking a 22-21 lead following a circus layup by Wilson that somehow managed to fall through the basket.

The Lady Mustangs would score the final four points of the first half, taking a 26-22 lead into the intermission.

The Lady Panthers would hit a trio of free throws to open the second half, cutting the Lady Mustang lead to one with 6:00 left in the third quarter. The Lady Mustangs would hit a field goal to break a two-minute scoring drought and go back up by three points at 28-25 with 4:00 left in the third quarter.

Winegar would later bring the Lady Panthers back within one, collecting the ball following a Lady Mustang turnover en route to a layup. The Lady Mustangs would call timeout following this play, leading 28-27 with 2:16 left in the third quarter.

The Lady Mustangs would score the next three points to go up 31-27 in the closing moments of the third quarter. Savannah Watterson would drain a three-pointer to end the third, bringing the Lady Panthers within one headed into the final quarter of play.

The Lady Panthers would score the first four points of the fourth on consecutive trips to the free throw line by Wilson and Watterson to take a 34-31 lead with just under 6:00 to play. The Lady Mustangs wouldn’t go away, scoring the game’s next five points to retake the lead at 36-34 with 5:08 left in the game.

Wilson would once again keep the Lady Panthers close, hitting a pair of free throws with just under five minutes to play to tie the game at 36. Roughly a minute and a half later Wilson would again impact the game, this time hitting another improbable layup while being fouled. Wilson would make that free throw and give the Lady Panthers a 39-36 lead with 3:34 left in the game.

In the closing seconds, with the score tied at 44, Wilson’s heroics would prove to be the difference in the game.

Wilson made a field goal with :12 remaining to give the Lady Panthers a slim 46-44 lead. Wilson would steal the ball and draw a foul on the next play, making a pair of free throws with :02 left to seal the game and give the Lady Panthers a 48-44 win to advance to the High Desert League championship game.

Watterson chipped in eight points to go along with Wilson’s 21. McKay finished the game with eight points to round out the Lady Panthers’ high scorers.

“It was exciting,” Lady Panther head coach Bo Workman said. “You gotta play those games to get better at playing those type of games,” he added.

The Prairie City/Burnt River win set the stage for a showdown with top-seeded Crane with the district championship on the line on Saturday, Feb. 18, at Grant Union High School.