Document text
Sawyer comes to the Eagles' rescue By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN ASHLAND -- After draining three long-distance jump shots in the final 11 minutes, Chris Sawyer knew he wanted one item at crunch time. The ball. The Eagle Point senior wing ran behind a screen with time running down and his team and Ashland deadlocked at 53 in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter on Tuesday night. With the help of a screen from wide-body post player Jake Kleker, Sawyer popped open on the right wing and popped in a 17-foot jump shot with eight seconds to play to give the Eagles a 55-53 win over Ashland in the Grizzlies' gym. "I was feeling really confident because I had hit some long shots in the second half," said Sawyer. "We were supposed to get the ball to Phil (Garrett) on the post, but we missed him. "We pulled it back out and tried it again and I ended up being open. I wanted to take the shot. I was confident I would make it. I came around the screen and nobody came up to challenge." The Eagles (14-10 overall) solidified their hold on third place in the final Southern Oregon Conference standings with their ninth win against five losses. Ashland finished with a 6-8 record in the SOC and tumbled into fifth place and out of contention for a state sub-playoff berth with the loss. The Grizzlies concluded the season with an 11-13 overall record. Eagle Point set a school record for wins at the Class 4A level with the triumph. The Eagles will take a five-game winning streak into the state playoffs next Tuesday when they host the No. 4 team from the Pac-8 League. "We're playing pretty well right now," said Eagle Point coach Keith Williams. "I like our confidence level." The Eagles showed that confidence when they ran nearly a minute off the game clock before Sawyer's game-winning shot went up. "We ran our offense pretty well," said Williams. "It was a real clutch effort, considering we're on the road at a tough place to play against a team that has been playing well. "Hopefully, a game like this will help us get ready for the playoffs," said Williams, who is taking his third straight team into the playoffs. "I like the way the kids are playing. "We were short of players tonight due to illness (to John Lucas and Chad Stuart). That messed up our rotation, but Nick Rouhier stepped up and really helped us when we needed him." Rouhier, a junior shooting guard who missed most of the season with a knee injury, scored 16 points, including a pair of 3-point field goals. "I was off at the start on my shot, but it got better," said Rouhier, who was the target of taunts from Ashland students after he shot an air ball after being knocked down following a 3-point attempt early in the game. "I deserved it," said Rouhier. "They were saying `air ball, air ball' every time I touched it. I got a little mad. I couldn't get a call or a hoop early. "When I finally hit one, I looked over at them and put my ear up to see if they had anything else to say. Actually, it fired me up and made me shoot better. That's the way I am." Garrett led Eagle Point with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Sawyer finished with 11 points and Thaddeus Gala had eight. Point guard Kris Pavilionis paced Ashland with 17 points and seven assists and guard Jimmy Werbin had 16 in his final game for the Grizz. "Jimmy had a great game," said Ashland coach John Skinner. "It seemed like he was all over the place. "What really hurt us was that we forced some things late in the game. Eagle Point executed a little better at the end. "It seemed like our kids wanted to drive all the way to the basket on some situations when they could pull up and hit an easy 8-footer," said Skinner. "It's tough to take it all the way when the other team has a 6-foot-7 guy (Garrett) standing back there. "He kind of roams around and drives people away from the basket, or he blocks shots." Ashland went on an 8-2 run to take a 36-31 lead with 5:47 left in the third quarter. But the Eagles struck back quickly on back-to-back field goals by Rouhier, setting up a close battle to the final seconds, when Grizz center Marko Kalemkeris was tied up by Rouhier on a long pass from out of bounds. Ashland finished its season with an 11-13 overall record. "We made a lot of improvement," said Skinner. "At least we can say that if the right things had happened, we were in it to make the playoffs." EAGLE POINT (55) -- Garrett 18, Rouhier 16, Sawyer 11, Gala 8, Kleker 2. Totals: 25 2-5. ASHLAND (53) -- Pavilionis 17, Werbin 16, Zundel 8, Kalemkeris 6, Challman 4, Pippa 2. Totals: 21 10-10. Eagle Point ..........14 15 13 13 -- 55 Ashland .................11 17 16 9 -- 53 3-point field goals: Ashland 1 (Werbin 1). Eagle Point 3 (Rouhier 2, Sawyer 1.) Fouled out: none. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.