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Grizz sprits high after win By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Not long ago Rick Cornelius' pre-practice words Wednesday would have sounded out of place, if not outright ridiculous. But after a 7-3 preseason, a near-upset of South Medford and Tuesday's shocking win at Roseburg, why not? "We're on to something here," Cornelius told his Ashland High boys basketball team. He may be right. The Grizzlies made all the big plays in picking up their eighth win of the season Tuesday, and are one of four teams sitting at 1-2 in the Southern Oregon Conference standings. Though it was far from a playoff-clincher, the victory put Ashland back in the thick of a wide-open SOC playoff race - a place the program hasn't been this late in the season for some time. "Absolute ecstasy," said Cornelius, describing the feeling in the Grizz locker room after bouncing Roseburg, 73-62. "This program has not seen a win like that in years. Not like that. Not in this conference. And what's happened now is they believe. They know they have confidence in themselves, they have confidence in the staff. We have confidence in them. We have their attention, they've got our attention. We've melded together into a real force right now. We're playing pretty good basketball and we may slip on occasion, but I feel very confident that this group is going to compete with everyone right down the road the rest of the way." A day after the ground-breaking win - the first over the Indians in three years - the Grizzlies hit the practice court in preparation for their next opponent: the league-leading Grants Pass Cavemen. Normally in Grizz country, talk now would center on "making it close," and "competing." Not Wednesday. "There's some wonderful coaching going on up there," Cornelius said of Grants Pass, "and they've got fine athletes. And Kory Mahr, he is the best post player in the conference and we know that. So we're well aware of that, but I know that that doesn't diminish from our feelings that if we do what we're capable of doing and if we execute according to the game plan, that we have a very good chance of being able to beat them on their floor." A repeat of their Tuesday night performance would help the Grizz cause. Ashland had it all clicking against the Indians, shooting 65 percent from the field (17-for-26), 88 percent from 3-point land (7-for-8) and 82 percent from the free throw line (18-for-22). Numbers like those may suggest some porous Roseburg defense, but not so, says Cornelius. The Grizzlies simply executed with patience and precision, said the first-year coach, and didn't fold when the Indians made their run. Roseburg, which never led, cut a 12-point Grizz lead to four with about five minutes left, but Ashland responded with a Jeff Skinner 3-pointer and were never threatened again. The win was Ashland's second in 31 SOC attempts over the last two-plus seasons, a mark the program is trying to leave behind. Before league play began, Cornelius said the Grizzlies could do just that by standing up to and eventually beating an SOC team. "If I don't miss my bet," Cornelius said Jan. 6, "we're going to get to a place where it's going to take one win, a key win, a big win that's going to just kind of unleash a lot of inhibitions, self doubt, and get us to a place where we could have a very good year in the SOC." Asked if Tuesday's win over Roseburg could be that win, Cornelius didn't hesitate. "I think we found our gem last night, I really do," he said. "I don't want to cast aspersions on any of the programs or coaches before, but this program hasn't been in a place like this where we could go out and any given night and say, 'You know what, we're in this. We have a chance to win this if we do things well, we can knock off at this point one of the premier programs in the conference.'" LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -