Grant Union’s Baryn Huerta handles the ball during his team’s 70-56 win over Enterprise on Friday, Jan. 5, 2023 at Grant Union High School.

JOHN DAY — The Grant Union Prospector basketball team rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to down the Enterprise Outlaws 70-56 in front of a rowdy home crowd on Friday, Jan. 5, at Grant Union High School.

The Pros started slow offensively, trailing 16-10 after the first quarter of play. The second quarter would see the Pros briefly recover, scoring the first five points in the second to trail by one at 16-15 with 7:00 to go in the half.

A three-point play by Sheldon Lenz would see the Pros take a 26-22 lead with just 2:00 to play in the first half before a self-inflicted wound allowed the Outlaws back into the game. A technical foul on the Pros saw the Outlaws make one of two free-throws to tie the game at 26 with 1:40 left in the half while retaining possession of the ball.

A trio of three-pointers, one by the Pros and two by the Outlaws, saw Enterprise take a 32-29 lead with just under a minute left in the half. Enterprise would tack another field goal onto their first-half total to take a 34-29 lead into the intermission.

The Outlaws would score the first points of the second half, increasing their lead to the largest of the game at 36-29. The Pros would then go on a 10-2 run capped by a Baryn Huerta field goal with 4:25 left in the quarter to give themselves their first lead of the second half at 39-38.

A three-pointer by Ryland Beil saw the Pros take a four-point lead in the third before an Enterprise three put the Outlaws within one at 42-41. The teams would match one another score for score throughout the last couple minutes of the third quarter, with the Pros taking a slim 50-47 lead into the final quarter of play.

The Pros and Outlaws would continue to trade scores throughout the first minute of the fourth with the Pros still maintaining a slim 54-51 lead with 7:15 left in the game. Grant Union would go on a 7-0 run over the next two minutes of game time to increase their lead to 10 at 61-51 with just over 5:00 left to play.

The Pros would maintain a double-digit lead through the remainder of the contest, going up by 11 with 1:40 left in the game and ultimately notching a convincing 70-56 home win.

The Pros had four players in double figures, led by Beil’s 18 points. Talon Van Cleave and Sheldon Lenz were right behind Beil with 17 points each, and Baryn Huerta chipped in 14 points for the Pros.

The win is the second in a row for the 10th-ranked Prospectors and their sixth win in their last seven games. Grant Union now stands at 10-4 on the season with a 2-0 league mark.

“We’ve been down before, and these guys are not immune to that,” Grant Union coach RC Huerta said. “We knew this was going to be a tough team, (a) championship opponent, and Enterprise came to play.”

The Pros having four players scoring in double digits fits with Huerta’s philosophy that basketball is truly a team sport.

“You don’t have to have one superstar or two superstars to win a game — it’s just never going to be the case because if you have a really good defensive team, they’re going to shut those guys down,” Huerta said.

“My mantra is that everybody shares the ball. … They’re looking for the open man and they don’t even think about being the only guy that has to score — that’s not even in their thought process. Their thought process is hit the open man and he’s going to make it.”

Being in the top 10 generally means you’ll get every opponent’s best shot, and Huerta said the key to navigating that dynamic comes down to the way the team prepares week in and week out.

“I know they know this already, but I just reminded them of it again today — every single game is a championship game, every single opponent is a championship opponent. … When we have that mentality, no matter what, it’s hammer down,” Huerta said.

The Pros will look to keep their momentum going when they host Stanfield in a Blue Mountain Conference showdown on Friday, Jan. 12. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.