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Panthers come up with huge road win By Greg Stiles GRANTS PASS � Defending Southern Oregon Conference boys basketball champion Grants Pass� chances of a repeat performance did a fast fade Tuesday night. Opportunistic South Medford solved its big-game shooting woes and weathered Grants Pass� third-quarter charge to deal the third-ranked Cavemen a 59-54 loss at Heater Newman Gym. The Panthers (15-5, 7-3 SOC) got a 17-point first half from 6-foot-8 junior post Eric Fiegi, buried 5 of 8 3-point shots and caught the Cavemen on the right night. Grants Pass� 6-7 post Ian Elseth, last season�s SOC player of the year, is suffering from the flu. He didn�t start and went scoreless in limited playing time. "This was definitely our biggest SOC win this season and a great win for our seniors," said Fiegi, who had plenty of company early and drew a defensive crowd in the second half. "I knew I had to have a big game whether Elseth was in there are not. I needed to dominate the first half." Grants Pass fell to 8-2 in the SOC, one game behind Roseburg, and 18-2 overall. The Cavemen, unbeaten and ranked No. 2 among the state�s Class 4A schools just a week ago, dropped its second straight game. "The guys are pretty down right now," Grants Pass coach Bill Cowell. "But these guys are smart enough to know if they win out they�ll get second place. That�s not what we wanted, but that�s not too bad." Fiegi scored 11 points in the first quarter as the Panthers took a 20-18 lead. Spurred by Brant Minor�s drive of the left baseline and persistent work on the offensive backboards, Grants Pass took a 26-22 edge with 5:17 to play in the half. But the Panthers went on a 16-3 binge to finish the half as five players got into the scoring act. Moments after Fiegi�s putback of a rebound propelled South back into the lead, 27-26, Tyler York of Grants Pass was knocked out of the game when he collided with South�s John McKay as they turned to go up the floor. McKay suffered a gash in the forehead, but York was lost for more than two quarters with a rip along the edge of his mouth that required stitches. He managed to return for the final 1:19 of the game. "We go on a 16-3 run at the end of the first half, which is huge, because we know they are going to make a run in the third quarter," South coach Dennis Murphy said. True to a form that helped them reel off 18 straight wins to start the season, the Cavemen came back with a vengeance. They smothered Fiegi with a box-and-one defense and managed to get inside for five baskets in the third quarter as the outscored South 15-8. "I thought we did a decent job against Fiegi the first time we played South and against (Roseburg�s Joe) Newton both times," Cowell said. "But after the first half, we decided we�d better box-and-one Fiegi. But (Ryan) Heil and a bunch of other guys stepped up." The Cavemen crested when Andy Dobner tied it at 42-42 with 1:49 to play in the third quarter. But McKay answered with a 15-footer, and Boomer Marshall dropped in a rebound to make it 46-42 with 44 seconds left in the period. Minor made it a two-point game going into the fourth quarter, but the Panthers had regained the momentum. "We talked about them coming back at halftime � great teams do that," Heil said. "But we weren�t going to let them do that. We just had to regroup, spread out and get their defense rotating and not just let them see who they were guarding." Heil scored from the lane to ignite a 9-3 spurt capped by McKay�s 12-foot jumper with 4:22 to play that made it 55-47. South hit 16 of 21 free throws in the game and 4 of 7 in the final 1:59. Marshall sank two big ones, after missing the front end of a one-and-one seconds earlier, to make it 58-52 with 1:03 remaining. "When I stepped to the line, there was no doubt that I was going to make two," Marshall said. "We had worked too hard to let it get away." Grants Pass cut the deficit to 58-54 on an inside move by Minor, but Tomlins came up with a steal that all but sealed it with 25 seconds to go. Fiegi finished with 19 points and Heil added 11 for the Panthers. Minor topped Grants Pass with 16 points, while Dobner tossed in 12 more. SOUTH MEDFORD (59) � Tomlins 6, Lower 0, Smith 0, Heil 11, McKay 7, Mulhollen 7, Johnson 5, Marshall 4, Fiegi 19. Totals: 19-42 16-21 59. GRANTS PASS (54) � Olson 2, York 6, Minor 16, Dobner 12, Berg 5, Dastrup 6, Lathen 2, Mahr 5, Elseth 0. Totals: 20-48 11-16 54. South Medford..........................................20 18 8 13 �59 Grants Pass............................................18 11 15 10 � 54 3-point goals � South Medford 5-8 (Tomlins 2, Heil 2, Mulhollen 1). Grants Pass 3-13 (Dobner 1, Dastrop 2). Fouled out � Berg. JV score � Grants Pass 59, South Medford 51. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4483, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.