LA GRANDE — Down two points to the Vale Vikings and with just seconds left on the game clock, La Grande junior Olivia Pennington played for the win instead of the tie. Hitting the shot from beyond the arc, Pennington and the Tigers avenged an earlier season loss with a 43-42 nonleague win over Vale on Tuesday, Jan. 2, in La Grande gym.

The victory evens up the meetings between the two teams as the Vikings rolled over La Grande, 44-20, on Dec. 15 in Vale. 

Early on it looked as if history might repeat itself. Vale jumped out to a 28-17 halftime lead before the La Grande defense stiffened in the second half, holding the Vikings to only four points in the third quarter and 14 points for the second half. The third quarter was also slow for the Tigers, adding only seven points to their total. 

Trailing 42-40 with the game coming to a close, Pennington’s long 3 handed La Grande the win. The junior ended the night with 12 points, the lone Tiger to score in double digits. Rowan Evans added nine points and Maezie Wilcox contributed eight points.

La Grande (9-5 overall) has little time to celebrate the win with a trip to take on Crook County (7-3 overall) scheduled for Jan. 5 in nonleague play.

Union 45, Weston-McEwen 41

UNION — Union improved to 8-4 overall following a 45-41 win over 2A Weston-McEwen on Tuesday, Jan. 2, in Union.

The win is the fourth in a row for the Bobcats.

Union broke out to an 11-6 first-quarter lead before seeing the TigerScots put up 16-9 run in the second to take a 22-20 lead at halftime.

The Bobcats returned the favor in the third quarter, outscoring Weston-McEwen 14-9 and holding off the 2A team for the win.

Union’s Kaelyn Shoemaker led all scorers in the game with 24 points, including eight points in the third quarter. Jayda Blackburn added eight points, six of those coming in the final eight minutes of the game.

“We played a really tough game, knowing that they were going to put a lot of pressure on us and in order to win, we had to handle it,” Union head coach Koby Dunlap said. “The girls did a good job of taking care of the ball and getting into our half court set. We still have a long way to go, but this was a good win for us.”

Union now begins 1A Old Oregon League play at home on Jan. 5 with Elgin (4-7 overall) in town for a 6 p.m. game.