THE DALLES — The La Grande girls golf team hit the links for the first time in 2013 at The Dalles Invitational Tuesday.

Despite windy conditions throughout the day, the Lady Tigers managed a second-place finish among the 10-school, seven-team tournament.

LHS finished with a team score of 482, while Pendleton won with a 410.

La Grande’s Breanna Partney scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds in the Lady Tigers’ 53-43 loss to Mazama in the 4A title game Friday in Corvallis. CASEY KELLAS/The Observer

Mazama closes game on 14-4 run as La Grande comes up short of championship

by CASEY KELLAS / The Observer 

CORVALLIS — The Lady Tigers came up just short of bringing home La Grande’s first girls team title, falling to Mazama 53-43 Friday night in the 4A state championship game at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.

The game was tied at 39-all with five minutes left, but after La Grande’s Breanna Partney fouled out, the Vikings went on a 14-4 run to close the game and win the championship.

“We played a good ballgame, put ourselves in a position to win it, things just didn’t go our way down the stretch,” LHS head coach Doug Girdner said. 

Eastern Oregon pitcher Lily Smith winds up for a pitch during the second game of Friday’s doubleheader with Southern Oregon University at Peggy Anderson Field. The visiting Raiders swept the Mountaineers in EOU’s home opener with 8-0 and 5-3 wins. BRAD MOSHER/The Observer

by BRAD MOSHER / The Observer

The Eastern Oregon University softball team opened its home season Friday and Saturday with four losses, but that wasn’t what really concerned coach Aaron Jackson.

It was the team being able to take advantage of the opportunities it gets. That is what Jackson said he was looking for moments after watching his team drop a 13-1 decision in five innings to the Oregon Institute of Technology’s “Hustlin’ Owls” Saturday evening.

By JASON COWLEY / Sioux City (Iowa) Journal 

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Karli Harris and the Davenport women’s basketball team are back in the Final Four.

And Eastern Oregon nearly stopped them.

CORVALLIS — The La Grande girls basketball team fell to Mazama 53-43 Friday night in the 4A state championship game at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis. 

The game was close throughout, with the score knotted up at 39-all with five minutes to go in regulation. But the Vikings used a 14-4 close to the game to pull out the victory.

Lauren Mills led La Grande with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Breanna Partney had 12 points and four rebounds before fouling out.

Hannah Reynolds led Mazama with 16 points, while Megan Morris added 13.

For more on the Lady Tigers, see Monday's edition of The Observer. 

La Grande’s Denise Comfort battles a pack of Lady Bulldogs as she tries to score against undefeated Sutherlin inThursday’s semifinals. CASEY KELLAS/The Observer

by CASEY KELLAS / The Observer  

Lady Tigers drive over unbeaten Bulldogs to earn title showdown with Mazama for Oregon basketball crown  

CORVALLIS — La Grande is one win away from capturing the school’s first state team title in any girls sport.

With a 66-56 victory over previously undefeated Sutherlin (26-0) Thursday night, the Lady Tigers will face off with Mazama tonight at 6:30 p.m. for the 4A state championship.

Eastern Oregon University’s Kyllian Wood tries to get a shot past Midland defenders Wednesday while his teammates watch from the bench. The eighth-ranked Mountaineers were upset in the first round, 77-53, at the College of the Ozarks by the unranked Warriors from Nebraska. Wood finished the game with four points. The EOU squad ended its season with a 28-5 record. Pat Dailey / Tri-Lakes News (Branson, Mo.)

by PAT DAILEY / Tri-Lakes News (Branson, Mo.)

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. — As soon as the subject of playing in the morning hours was offered to Zach Anderson as a reason for Eastern Oregon’s sub-par shooting Wednesday, he quickly dismissed the notion.

“I’m not making excuses. We flat out got beat,” Anderson said after the No. 8-seeded Mountaineers were blown out 77-53 by Midland (Neb.) in the first round of the NAIA D-II National Tournament.

It’s the second straight one-and-done trip to the Ozarks for Eastern Oregon. 

Observer staff

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The Eastern Oregon Lady Mountaineers moved into the NAIA’s “Sweet 16” Thursday with a 86-54 win over Southwestern (Kan.).

The third-ranked Mountaineers opened a big lead in the first half, only to see the Moundbuilders rally and tighten the score to just seven points.