UMATILLA – During Saturday’s Big Sky Conference girls district championship game, the phrase “nothing to lose” emanated from the Ione bench several times.

So even though the Cardinals fell to No. 5-ranked Dufur 55-42 in Umatilla High School on Saturday, they’re not feeling half bad.

“We didn’t have anything to lose,” Ione coach Ryan Rudolf said. “They were expected to win, and that was our best game of the year.”

On Saturday, Ione (16-9 overall) hosts the Old Oregon No. 3 seed, while Dufur (23-2) hosts Jewell in loser-out sub-state tournament games.

Sara Peck (11) and Jenny Griffith (10) both scored in double figures for Ione, which outscored Dufur 25-22 in the second half.

The only problem, though, was that the Rangers were up 16 points at halftime.

Dufur looked poised for an early blowout, taking a 15-2 lead to start the game. But Ione continued to chip away at the lead and eventually trailed 48-40 with 4:38 remaining in the game.

Griffith scored five straight points to get Ione within eight, and her streak capped a 19-5 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters.

“We played our hardest the whole time,” Griffith said. “We never let down.”

But eventually, Dufur’s balanced attack, along with the Rangers hitting five free throws in the final minutes, helped it pull away for good.

Dufur left Umatilla with its third consecutive BSC district title.

“Ione’s play was inspired, and I’m sure they’re very pleased with their play,” Dufur coach Jack Henderson said. “And we are, too, because they stepped up, challenged us and made us play four quarters.”

Angela Lindell scored 19 to lead the Rangers, and Margo Wyatt (13) and Lacey Tibbets (10) also scored in double figures.

Rudolf said there is a reason the Rangers are the No. 5 team in the state.

“They’re tough. They have a lot of weapons,” Rudolf said of the Rangers. “If you key on one girl, another one’s going to make a shot.”

But weathering the Dufur storm has Ione confident going into next week’s playoff game. Rudolf is convinced that if his team can play the way it did Saturday, it can make some noise in the state tournament.

“Most people didn’t think we’d even play with them,” Rudolf said. “So, I think it shows that if we play like this next week, no matter who we play, we should be in Baker City.”

Condon 31, Cascade Locks 27

Katee Humphrey scored her team’s last five points Saturday to lead Condon to a 31-27 victory over Cascade Locks.

The Blue Devils hit two less field goals than the Pirates, but due to a sheer volume of free throws, Condon was able to advance to state with a 31-27 victory.

The Blue Devils play at Pine Eagle on Saturday in a loser-out sub-state tournament game.

Condon (14-13) converted 8 of 19 free throws during the game, while Cascade Locks converted 1 of 5.

“We tried to be aggressive offensively,” Condon coach Teresa Humphrey said.

Coach Humphrey said despite the win, her team’s free throw shooting was “terrible,” and she said that is something the Blue Devils will work on before state.

Katee Humphrey led Condon in with 19 points. Nicole Martin had nine points for Cascade Locks, which was playing in its first-ever BSC district tournament in school history.