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Grizzly boys mauled by Panthers By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings MEDFORD -- With 1:57 to go in the second quarter South Medford High boys basketball fans began chanting "it's all over," and they were as dead on as their beloved Panthers. Fifth-ranked South (17-1, 9-0) hit 10 3-pointers and jumped out to a 49-24 halftime lead Friday night to vaporize Ashland's two-game win streak, 83-49, at the South Medford High gym. The Southern Oregon Conference loss, coupled with Klamath Union's 50-37 win at North Medford, dealt Ashland a crippling blow in its bid for the fourth and final SOC playoff berth. With five league games remaining, Ashland (3-6 SOC, 10-9 overall) is two games behind both Klamath Union (5-4 SOC) and North Medford (5-4 SOC) -- the frontrunners in the fight for the league's No. 3 and No. 4 spots. "(We'll) put it behind us and move on," Ashland coach Rick Cornelius said. "We've got five more games that are very important for us and it didn't work out the way we hoped. Give credit to South Medford, they're playing so well right now. I was so impressed with their energy, their hustle out there tonight. I mean, they work so well together and coach (Dennis) Murphy's got them playing extremely well." Three days removed from Tuesday's emotional win at KU, the Grizzlies, who suffered their worst loss of the season, were outplayed in every phase of the game from beginning to end. The rout started early. South scored the first seven points of the game, gave up a pair, then banked the next seven to seize a 14-2 lead with 4:20 left in the first quarter. After a couple buckets by Grizz guard Chris Presicci pulled Ashland within eight, 16-8, the Panthers used a 8-2 run to finish the first up 24-10. The Grizzles tried desperately to make a game of it in the second, but Panther post Craig Johnson (game-high 16 points) scored 12, including a lay-up at the buzzer, to help South increase its lead to 25 points. The Panthers, who had four players in double figures, increased that lead to 40 at one point in the third quarter and to as much as 41 in the fourth before finally relenting. Sophomore post Chris Mackovjak led Ashland with 13 points and senior guard Zach Brown and Presicci each added seven. The Panthers unleashed a suffocating full court press early and stuck with it pretty much the whole way, preventing Ashland from mounting anything resembling a comeback. The Grizzlies rarely got the ball up court without a struggle, and when they did often turned it over (28) or settled for wild shots. That only served to feed South Medford's fast break, which was the main reason the Panthers ended up with 30 field goals to the Grizzlies' 17. "It wasn't for a lack of preparation," Cornelius said. "We were certainly prepared tonight. We knew what we were facing." 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 -