Last modified: Sunday, December 16, 2007 2:42 AM PST Ontario gets come from behind victory By Argus Sports Staff Junction City  - Many can’t pronounce the name Alla Dzhidzhiyeshvili (Gee-Gee-yesh-vee-lee), but after Saturday’s game-winning shot, just call her big-D. Dzhidzhiyeshvili canned a 12-footer from the top of the key with five seconds remaining to lead the Ontario girls basketball team to the come-from-behind 54-53 win over No. 3 ranked Cottage Grove Saturday in consolation round action of the Junction City basketball tournament. With 16 seconds left, Dzhidzhiyeshvili stole the ball and coasted for an uncontested basket but the ball was knocked away on what head coach Jon Buck was felt was a foul. The Tigers had the final possession and on a motion play, the senior guard found herself all alone for the jumper. Twice in the game, the scrappy Lady Tigers overcame double-digit deficits and they saw themselves down 51-38 with four minutes left in the game. Ontario used its pressure defense to perfection and got some steals, quick layups and found themselves back in the ball game late. Before the game, Buck gave his team a special pregame speech and his squad answered with a 24-6 deficit after one quarter of play. The Tigers crept back in with a 20-8 second quarter run and were down 32-26 at the break. The Lions outscored Ontario 16-12 in the third quarter and led 48-38 heading into the wild fourth quarter. Stephanie O’Connor added 14 points, Chris Babij chipped in 12 points and Amy Lopez added three points for the victorious Tigers. “I’m hoping we learned some lessons this weekend,” Buck said. “Part of it is preparation. We know we have play differently then we played tonight. We need to play with intensity in the first quarter.” Ontario (5-2 overall) next hosts Vale Thursday. Adrian 49, Crane 37 Adrian In their home opener, the Adrian Antelopes used a 23-12 fourth quarter run to defeat Crane 49-37 in High Desert League girls basketball action in Adrian. Adrian jumped out to a 14-5 lead after one quarter of play, but the Mustangs answered with a 14-4 run in the second quarter and led 19-18 at the break. Paige Branstiter led the way with 21 points, 14 rebounds and four assists and Terra Rust added 17 points for Adrian, which had two players notch more than one field goal. “It was a really hard-fought ball game. Really tough,” Adrian head coach Gene Mills said. “A lot of energy was expended on the floor. It was like a district tournament game. It was a good win.” Adrian (6-0 overall, 3-0 HDL) next travels to Greenleaf Thursday. Friday Girls basketball action Ontario 61, Siuslaw 32 Junction City One day after a heartbreaking loss to Cascade, the Ontario girls basketball team came out with a purpose against Siuslaw. The Tigers outscored Siuslaw in every quarter of play and coasted to an easy 61-32 win over the Vikings in second round action of the Junction City basketball tournament Friday in Junction City. The Tigers jumped out to a 12-6 first quarter cushion and then went to work with a 17-5 second quarter run to take a 29-11 halftime lead. Most of the points came off 27 Viking turnovers, so head coach Jon Buck was happy that his squad was able to execute its pressure defense. “Right now, a lot of our offense comes from our defensive pressure and some steals,” Buck said. “Both teams we have played here are bigger, so were the little guys on the court. We have to take advantage of our speed and attack.” Ontario outscored Siuslaw 14-13 in the third and broke things open with a 18-8 fourth quarter spurt. Alla Dzhidzhiyeshvili had an all-around game with 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists and six steals to lead Ontario. Dzhidzhiyeshvili was followed up by Chris Babij, who scored 11 points and Jaylene Bruner added eight points for the Tigers, which had nine different players hit the score sheet. “They came out and made good improvements,” Buck said of his team. “They did a good job inside. Siuslaw had some tall girls and it was a tough battle.” Ontario (4-2 overall) played Cottage Grove Saturday in the consolation championship and next hosts Vale Thursday. Adrian 68, Jordan Valley 41 Jordan Valley McKenzie Purnell scored 12 points and Liese Thys added 11 and the Adrian Antelopes used a 11-0 fourth quarter run to blow past Jordan Valley 68-41 in High Desert League girls basketball action Friday in Jordan Valley. Adrian led 13-10 after the first quarter and put a 29 spot on the Mustangs in the second quarter and led 42-26 at the break. Both teams scored 15 points apiece in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter Jordan Valley was blanked 11-0. Paige Branstiter added 10 points, while Andrea Shenk and Terra Rust added nine points apiece for the Antelopes. Jordan Valley was led by Elisa Eiguren’s 15 points and Kayla Cuvelier added eight points, for the Mustangs, who had two players notch more than two field goals. “I thought both team played really hard,” Adrian head coach Gene Mills said. “We were faster and bigger than Jordan Valley and that played a big role for us.” Adrian (4-0 overall, 2-0 HDL) hosted Crane Saturday, while Jordan Valley (3-1, 1-1) traveled to Huntington. Saturday  boys hoop action Harper 63, Burnt River 51 Harper Swiss import, Jan Seiler scored 20 points and Kody DeNoma added 14 to lead the Harper Hornets to the 63-51 win over Burnt River in High Desert League boys basketball action Saturday in Harper. The Hornets used a 17-5 third quarter run that quickly turned the tables on a 30-27 halftime deficit. Harper then outscored Burnt River 19-16 in the final stanza, using clutch free throw shooting to earn the tough win. Rebounding proved to be the difference for the Hornets which had a 39-28 advantage and Burnt River Committed 18 turnovers. Ron Weatherby scored nine points and led the way with 13 rebounds and Jared DeNoma grabbed four steals to go along with his 12 points. “We tried a zone in the first half and went to a man defense in the second half,” Harper’s Tyler Shafer said. “Man defense that is kind of our bread and butter and our defense led to points for us.” Harper (3-3 overall, 2-2 HDL) next travels to Jordan Valley Tuesday. Friday boys hoop action Weiser 61, Parma 52 WEISER   The Weiser boys basketball team finished nine points better than Parma on Friday to take the win 61-52.   “We had a lot balance,” Weiser coach Dave Shirts said. “Our forward guards did a good job of getting to Overgaard inside.” Overgaard led Wolverine scoring with 8 from the field for 16 points on the game and Richins had 14 points.     “It was nice team effort.  We had some guys step up,” Shirts said. Weiser finished with 20 field goals and went 10-of-16 from the charity line.   “The defense turned it up and Richins got a couple of steals and we executed down the stretch but really it was a two point game at the half and we just executed better in the second half. Parma did a nice and the team executed well,” Shirts said.   Parma coach Nate Tessmer said it was a good game as a team, but thinks they need to get better. “We are getting better each week in practice and are starting to believe we will be ok in a tough conference with a tough schedule,” Tessmer said. “Weiser is a great team, and our guys battled and stepped up. That’s a step in the right direction. Come January and February, we’ll have kids that will compete and help us down the line.” Weiser remains undefeated (4-0) and travels to Melba next. Parma, which has yet to win a game, hosts Payette next week. Nampa Christian 56, Nyssa 52 Nyssa The Nyssa boys basketball team dug themselves a 20-9 first quarter hole and couldn’t dig their way out of it, losing 56-52 Friday in first round action at the Nyssa High School Invitational basketball tournament in Nyssa. At one point, the Bulldogs were faced with a 14-point second quarter deficit but slowly crept back into things. Nyssa was down 29-20 at the break and then came out with a 19-11 third quarter run to crawl to within 40-39 after 24 minutes of play. The Trojans, however battled it out and held off the Bulldogs’ charge to come away with the victory. “They (Nampa Christian) came out with a little more energy than our kids,” Nyssa head coach Gabe Fuentes said. “It has been a long week for the kids and they came out flat. They did a good job of bouncing back in the fourth quarter. It’s good to see that we can come back. In a long season, were going to have to come back and it was good to see that they were able to do it.” Dustin Kamper scored 11 points and Marcus Lee added 10 points for Nampa Christian, which had nine different players score. Nyssa was led by Seth Glenn, who scored 15 points and he was followed up by Josh DeAnda and Eric Jensen, who scored 11 points apiece. Nyssa (1-5) hosted Marsing Saturday. Fruitland 59, Melba 47 Melba The second and third quarter proved to be the difference for the Fruitland boys basketball team, which used a 14-6 second quarter run and a 21-10 third quarter to defeat Melba 59-47 in non-league basketball action in Melba. Andrew Dahle notched a double-double with 18 points and 11 boards and teammate Matt Stanger added 12 points. The Grizzlies connected on 24-of-57 shots and dominated the glass with a 28-17 edge, 18 coming by way of the offensive variety. The Grizzly defense also stepped to forefront forcing 27 turnovers and tallied 15 steals. Melba shot 57 percent form the field and 16-of-27 from 2-point range, but couldn’t dip into the sizable lead late in the contest. “We played pretty well,” Fruitland head coach Mike Fitch said. “We had to overcome a hot-shooting Melba team to get a big road win. We rebounded well and I felt we defended well even though Melba shot a high percentage from the field. We were a bit inconsistent on offense at times, but were able to play through it.”  Fruitland (4-2 overall) next hosts New Plymouth Thursday. Jordan Valley 73, Adrian 34 Jordan Valley   The Jordan Valley Boys’ basketball team chalked up a win on Saturday against Adrian, putting up an impressive 73-34 final score, and improving to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in league play. “This is what we wanted to do, and I hope we can play better. It would be nice to be able to continue to play that well,” Jordan Valley Coach Mike Workman said.  Jordan Valley’s Koehl Trautman lead in scoring with 17 points and shooting 3-of-4 from the foul line. Teammates Zac Fillmore had 16 and Sonny Mackenzie had 13. “Mackenzie had his best game yet and he gave us an offensive boost,” Workman said.   Adrian managed only 13 field goals and only made 7-of-14 from the free throw line.   Adrian’s Blake Purnell lead his team with nine points followed by Kyle Dondero’s eight. “We shocked them playing our first home game in two weeks. We were happy to be home and it showed, but it will be different when we go back to Adrian, where they are undefeated,” Workman said.   Jordan Valley travels to Huntington next week.