Central Oregonian

Loggers clawed by Tigers, Panthers

Mitchell opens league season with home losses to Dayville/Monument and Prairie City

Lon Austin

January 14, 2013

The Mitchell Loggers are having trouble with their shooting touch.

The Loggers struggled to score both Friday and Saturday as they dropped a pair of games on the opening weekend of the High Desert League season.

“We just couldn’t hit any shots and we had too many turnovers,” Mitchell head coach Tim Foster said at the conclusion of the weekend. “Just a lot of self-inflicted mistakes.”

The Loggers fell behind 10-2 at the end of the first period of their Friday night contest with the Dayville/Monument Tigers before eventually falling 35-19. On Saturday, Mitchell continued to have difficulty scoring as they fell behind the Prairie City Panthers 8-0 at the end of the first quarter en route to a 52-15 beating.

After the slow start on Friday, the Loggers rebounded to play strong second and third quarters. Dayville/Monument outscored Mitchell 9-8 in the second period to take a 19-10 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Mitchell outscored the visitors 5-4 to trail just 23-15 entering the final period.

However, Mitchell struggled with fatigue in the fourth quarter as Dayville/Monument pulled away for the easy win.

Miranda Holt led the Loggers in scoring in with six points, while Jordan Apperson and Jenna Perry-Zapara added four points each.

Treiquella Osborne led the Tigers with 14 points.

Saturday was more of the same. Mitchell hit just one of 22 shots from the floor in the first half as Prairie City rolled out to a 23-6 halftime lead.

The Panthers rolled into high gear in the third period as they outscored the Loggers 20-5 to put the game out of reach.

Jeney Apperson and Holt led the Loggers in scoring with four points apiece, while Amy Black led the Panthers with 22.

Mitchell finished the contest hitting just five of 44 shots from the floor in the contest.

However, they shot a respectable five of eight shots from the line.

“We’ve just got to find a way to break that seal on the basket,” Foster said following Saturday’s game. “We will keep working hard and with just a little more consistency and staying after it, hopefully things will start to fall our way.”

The Loggers (2-8) have a difficult non-league contest at Echo today, before returning home on Saturday to host Spray in a must win High Desert League contest. Game time Saturday is set for 6 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 11

Dayville/Monument 35, Mitchell 9

at Mitchell

Dayville/Monument (35) — Treiquella Osborne 14, C. Perkins 6, A. Perkins 6, Yankee 4, Woltenburg 2, Cowdrey 2, Hettinga 1, Flower, Homan. Totals 15 5-8 35.

Mitchell (19) — Miranda Holt 6, Perry-Zapara 4, Jo. Apperson 4, Fox 3, Je. Apperson 2, Domenighini, Tolton. Totals 90-2 19.

Dayville/Monument 10 9 4 12 — 35

Mitchell 2 8 5 4 — 19

Three-points goals — Dayville/Monument: none; Mitchell: Fox.

Saturday, Jan. 12

Prairie City 52, Mitchell 15

at Mitchell

Prairie City (52) — Amy Black 22, Griffeth 7, Woodbury 2, Stewart 9, Hill 4, Kell 8, Packard, Evans, Fast. Totals 20 9-17 52.

Mitchell (15) — Jenay Apperson 4, Miranda Holt 4, Perry-Zapara 3, Tolton 2, Jo. Apperson 2, Fox, Domenighini. Totals 5 5-8 15.

Prairie City 8 15 20 9 — 52

Mitchell 0 6 5 4 — 15

Three-point goals — Prairie City: Griffeth; Mitchell: none.