Grant Union senior Eric Culley handles the ball during his final regular season home game, a 75-54 win over Irrigon on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024.

The Grant Union boys basketball team mauled Irrigon 76-54 in their final game of the regular season after honoring the team’s three seniors during an emotional pregame ceremony.

Seniors Talon Van Cleave, Sheldon Lenz and Eric Culley all played their final regular season home game for the Prospectors, who won their third straight game in downing the Knights. The win was Grant Union’s second over Irrigon in three days.

Irrigon would score first to open the game, but a Lukas Blood three-pointer would spark a 15-2 Pro run that saw the home team take a 15-4 lead with 3:50 left to go in the first quarter. Irrigon would rally, however, cutting the Prospector lead to seven at 19-12 after one quarter of play.

Blood would sink another three to start the second quarter followed by a Ryland Beil field goal to give the Pros a 24-12 lead with just over 7:00 left in the half. Both Blood and Baryn Huerta would hit three-pointers as the Pros went on a 9-2 run in the final four minutes of the half to take a 40-20 lead into the intermission.

The Prospectors kept the pressure on in the second half. A Beil three with just over 3:00 left in the third quarter saw the Pros take their largest lead of the afternoon to that point at 52-29. Grant Union would ultimately take a commanding 61-37 lead and all of the game’s momentum into the fourth quarter.

The final frame opened with the Pros going on a 10-2 scoring blitz to take a 71-39 lead with 5:16 left in the contest. The Knights would respond with a 12-2 run of their own but would still find themselves down 73-51 with less than a minute left.

The Pros would go on to defeat the Knights 76-54 for their 15th win of the season.

Van Cleave paced the Pros in his final regular season game as a Prospector, scoring 16 points. Fellow senior Lenz added 12 points, with the sharpshooting Huerta and Blood each scoring 11 points in the game.

The win puts the Pros at 15-8 on the season with a 6-4 record in league play.

Grant Union seniors Van Cleave, Lenz and Culley have played basketball with one another since the second grade, and the Irrigon game was one of the last times the trio will suit up as teammates in the red and black. “Emotional” was the word Culley used to describe the trio’s feelings. “It’s a long journey coming to an end,” he said.

Van Cleave was also reflective, describing the experiences the trio have had since their freshman year at Grant Union. “All of the (seasons) we’ve been through, some of them zero wins, six wins, 11 wins, and we’re at 15 wins now and still going,” he said. “It’s been a long journey — it went by too fast.”

The three said they would like to make some noise at the state tournament to end their Grant Union basketball careers.

“At least a first round state (game),” Lenz said.

“Or maybe a state win,” Van Cleave chimed in.

“We’re going as far as we can,” Culley added.

The Pros will open Blue Mountain Conference postseason play on Friday, Feb. 16, at the Pendleton Convention Center against Heppner. The two teams split a pair of games in the regular season, with the outcomes decided by a total of six points.

The game is scheduled for a 2:45 p.m. tipoff.