Prairie City/Burnt River’s Cyrus Workman fires a pass around the extended arm of Grant Union’s Sheldon Lenz on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, at Prairie City High School.

The Grant Union Prospector basketball team came out hot against familiar foe Burnt River/Prairie City before weathering a late Panther push to come away with a 48-36 season-opening win on Thursday, Nov. 30, at Prairie City High School.

The Pros were firing on all cylinders both offensively and defensively to open the game, scoring the first eight points and keeping the Panthers off the scoreboard until there was just over 3:00 left in the first quarter. The Pros would end the first quarter with a 20-4 advantage.

The Pros would continue to score, increasing their lead to 29-5 in the second quarter and ultimately taking a 37-14 lead into halftime.

The Panthers would come out in the second half and score the half’s first eight points, just like the Pros did to start the game, drawing to within 15 at 37-22. The Pros would struggle offensively, managing just four points in the third quarter.

The Panthers would find themselves within reach at 41-29 headed into the fourth quarter.

The Panthers would slowly chip away at the Prospector advantage in the fourth quarter, drawing to within seven at 43-36 with 2:42 left in the game to force a Prospector timeout. The Pros would score five straight points following that timeout to go back up by double digits at 47-36 and essentially close the game out.

The Pros would add one more point to their total late in the fourth quarter to go up 48-36, which would ultimately be the game’s final score.

Sheldon Lenz was huge for the Prospectors, scoring the game’s first two field goals and ending with a game-high 19 points. Talon VanCleave chipped in a trio of timely three-pointers, finishing with nine points in total.

Syrus Workman led the Panthers on offense, finishing with 10 points on the day. Sawyer Quinton added nine points for the Panthers.

Grant Union head coach RC Huerta said his team’s fast start in the first half was something he’d stressed to his players.

“Last year we used to come out slow in games, so I wanted us to come out with a lot of fire and just put the pedal to the metal right away,” he said. “I didn’t want us to start slow, so I felt I prepared them very well for that and they prepared themselves very well for that.”

The Pros cooled down in the second half, and Huerta said being on the road played a role in that.

“We’re at their home court and we knew that was going to be a battle,” he said. “The games just sometimes go that way. You know you have to weather the other team’s storm. They came out with a lot of fire, just like we did to begin the game, but I was really proud of my guys for weathering the storm.”

Huerta also spoke about getting a win against the Panthers in the season opener.

“I have a lot of respect for Prairie City,” he said. “They’ve done well in volleyball, they’ve done well in football, so I knew they were going to be tough. It feels good to get that win, but it’s all love and respect for them.”