Panthers dominate Long CreekThe Prairie City/Burnt River boys basketball team downed Long Creek 82-39 on Saturday, Feb. 10, in Prairie City in preparation for the High Desert League Tournament. The win snaps a two-game losing skid for the Panthers and leaves them at 11-13 with a 4-2 league record headed into the postseason.

The loss puts the Mountaineers at 5-12 on the season with an 0-6 record in league play. Long Creek will take the court next on Tuesday, Feb. 13, when they head to Jordan Valley for a High Desert League playoff game that tips off at 4:30 p.m. Mountain Time.

The Panthers will be in action next at the High Desert League tournament that will start on Thursday, Feb. 15, and run until Saturday, Feb. 17, at Grant Union High School. Start times and opponents are still to be determined.

Tiger boys win two straight to end regular seasonThe Dayville/Monument boys basketball team won consecutive games during the past week in the run-up to the High Desert League tournament.

The Tigers ventured out to Long Creek on Friday, Feb. 9, and just edged out the Mountaineers 47-43 for their first win in five games. The next day the Tigers welcomed Gilchrist to Dayville High School and defeated the Grizzlies 56-44 for their second win in as many days.

The pair of wins have the Tigers at 3-17 on the season with a 2-4 league record. The Tigers will travel to Ontario for their next game on Tuesday, Feb. 13, when they take on Four Rivers in a league playoff game prior to the High Desert League tournament.

Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Tiger girls down Lady ProsThe Dayville/Monument girls basketball team got a slim 42-37 win over the Grant Union junior varsity squad on Saturday, Feb. 10, in their final game of the regular season. The win puts the Lady Tigers at 5-15 with an 0-4 record in High Desert League play.

The team will be in action next on Tuesday, Feb. 13, when they host a High Desert League playoff game. Both the opponent and time of that game are still to be determined.

Lady Pro grapplers dominant at districtThe Grant Union girls wrestling team ran away with the 2A/1A District 3 girls wrestling tournament on Friday, Feb. 9, at Echo High School, placing nine wrestlers in the top four and more than doubling up second-place Elgin’s team score.

First-place finishers for the Lady Pros were Zoey Beam at 110 pounds, Sivanna Hodge at 170 pounds and defending state champion Mallory Lusco at 235 pounds. JoLee Oakes (120 pounds), Mariana Kostiuk (130 pounds), Macy Carter (135 pounds) and Quinlan Taylor (155 pounds) all finished as runners-up in their respective weight classes.

The Lady Pros had one third-place finisher in Bailey Reeves at 130 pounds and a fourth-place finisher in Laramie Kiser at 110 pounds. As a team, the Lady Pros were dominant, finishing as the champions with 80 team points.

Second-place Elgin scored 34 team points in the tournament to edge out third-place Enterprise/Wallowa, which finished with 33.5 team points.

The girls will be in action next at the district meet in Cottage Grove on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16 and 17. The top three district finishers and select fourth-place finishers will qualify for the state tournament in Portland. The state wrestling championships will take place on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 22 and 23, at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Pros qualify four for state tournamentThe Grant Union/Prairie City boys wrestling team saw four wrestlers punch their ticket to the state tournament with a fifth potentially headed there as well in the fallout from the OSAA Special District 3 tournament held in Echo on Friday, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10.

The Pros were led by defending state champion Taylor Parsons, who was the team’s lone district champion at 126 pounds. Parsons wrestled three times, wining all of his matches by pinfall.

Jewett Waddel and Alex Finley notched second-place finishes for the Pros in the 138 and 175 pound weight classes. Waddel won two matches via pinfall but fell 12-4 in the final to Culver’s Carlos Fernandez.

Finley wrestled four times in the tournament, winning two by fall and another via an 11-3 major decision. Finley would lose the championship match via pinfall against Elgin’s Ty McLaughlin.

Frankie Beam was the final definite state qualifier for the Pros, finishing in third place in the 106 pound weight class. Beam lost his semifinal matchup but wrestled his way through the consolation bracket for a third-place finish.

One more Grant Union wrestler, Cody Weseman, took home fourth place in the 106 pound weight class and now must wait to find out if he is one of a select few fourth-place district finishers who will find themselves with a berth in the state tournament.

As a team the Pros finished in fifth place overall with 142 team points, just beating out Crane, which finished with 141.5 team points, and finishing just behind Elgin, which had 146 team points. Everybody was chasing eventual champion Culver, which finished with 257.5 team points. Second-place Irrigon had 210 team points, and third-place Enterprise/Wallowa finished the tournament with 170 team points.

Parsons and the rest of the Grant Union/Prairie City state qualifiers will compete again at the OSAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 22 and 23, at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.