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52 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, November 15, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 12, 2004 South Medford�s Caleb Berkey, top, and Ryan Fiegi, bottom, battle Redmond's Nike Johnson for a rebound in the second half of Thursday�s game. Redmond stuns sluggish South Top-ranked Panthers fall behind 10-0 and never recover in the opening round of Class 4A state tournament By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune EUGENE — South Medford was recognizable only by uniform Thursday night. In overall performance, the Panthers looked nothing like the No. 1-ranked boys basketball team in the state in a disappointing 65-57 quarterfinal loss to fifth-ranked Redmond at the Class 4A state tournament. Behind the play of 6-foot-9 senior Maarty Leunen, last year’s state player of the year, Redmond (22-5) opened a 10-0 lead on South and essentially kept that distance for the remainder of the game at McArthur Court. "We didn’t come to play and didn’t even give ourselves a chance, and that’s what disappoints me," said South Medford head coach Dennis Murphy. "I don’t have an answer for it. I really don’t." Advertisement "In the big games here you’ve got to step up and make the plays and we didn’t even come close," he added. "It’s just so disappointing. That’s the first time we really didn’t take a challenge on." Leunen put up game-highs in points (24), rebounds (11) and assists (5) as Redmond completely dominated South in front of 7,143 in Thursday night’s session. In the afternoon session, No. 2-ranked South Salem outlasted sixth-ranked Sunset 66-61 in three overtimes and South Eugene edged eighth-ranked Oregon City, 50-48. "Redmond did a great job," said Murphy. "There was no question they were the best basketball team from the tipoff to the finish." South (25-2) gets a shot at redemption at 3:15 p.m. today in a consolation semifinal with Lake Oswego, an 87-41 loser to Jesuit Thursday night. "We’ll find out what kind of character we have," said Murphy. "We haven’t been in this situation in a while." Everything stemmed from South’s sluggish start, in which the Southern Oregon Conference champs missed time and again from point-blank range. South ended up with its worst shooting performance of the season, converting only 7 of 22 shots in the first half (31.8 percent) and 20 of 56 for the game (35.7 percent). In contrast, Redmond went 14 of 35 in the first half (40 percent) and 20 of 47 (42.6 percent) for the game. "That was probably the best we’ve played all year," said Leunen. "Consistently and in all-around play, we haven’t been any better than we were tonight." And South couldn’t have been worse. "I think we thought all we had to do was step on the court and we’d get a win, but that’s not how it works," said South senior Caleb Berkey, who had 11 points on 3-for-12 shooting. South trailed 35-23 at halftime for its biggest deficit at that point all year, and Redmond spread its advantage to 46-29 entering the fourth quarter in the runaway win. "They came out and wanted it a little more than us," said South senior Craig Johnson, who had a team-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. "It was embarrassing. I’m still proud to be a Panther and I still love these guys, but we didn’t come through when we needed to." Isaiah Adams came off the bench for nine points and two assists as South played half of Thursday’s game without starting point guard Ryan Fiegi. Fiegi picked up three fouls early in the second quarter and was sent to the bench only 2½ minutes into the third quarter after picking up his fourth foul coming off a pick by Leunen. South staged a slight rally in the fourth quarter, cutting its deficit to eight points with 3:35 to play after Berkey drained his second 3-pointer of the period, but simply couldn’t get over the hump as Redmond patiently converted on nine of its last 12 possessions. Redmond drilled 17 of 23 free throws in the fourth. "We had chances, we just never got it done," said Johnson. Despite Thursday’s lackluster performance, Johnson said he believed South would return to form today. "We’re not going to end the season on a note like this," he said. "We’re going to come out (today) and get it done like we know we can. It’s going to be tough, but I think we can do it." Attendance for the day in the first state tourney in Eugene was 15,106 — about 6,000 more than last year’s first-day totals at Memorial Coliseum in Portland. SOUTH MEDFORD (25-2) Fiegi 2-4 1-6 5, Berkey 3-12 3-3 11, Hagert 0-4 1-2 1, C. Johnson 8-17 7-7 23, Singler 4-12 0-0 8, Heil 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 3-5 0-0 9, Hunter 0-1 0-0 0, B. Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 20-56 12-18 57. REDMOND (22-5) McGowan 0-2 6-8 6, Hilgers 2-6 0-0 4, Maarty Leunen 7-16 9-10 24, Matt Leunen 1-5 5-6 7, Johnson 5-8 3-5 14, Treisch 0-0 0-0 0, Huerta 0-2 0-0 0, Webb 0-0 0-0 0, Klontz 3-5 0-0 6, Ellsworth 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 20-47 23-29 65. South Medford............................10 13 6 28 — 57 Redmond...................................14 21 11 19 — 65 3-point goals — South Medford 5-15 (Berkey 2-6, Hagert 0-3, Singler 0-2, Adams 3-4), Redmond 2-6 (McGowan 0-1, Hilgers 0-1, Maarty Leunen 1-2, Johnson 1-2). Rebounds — South Medford 35 (C. Johnson 10), Redmond 33 (Maarty Leunen 11). Assists — South Medford 10 (Hagert 3), Redmond 10 (Maarty Leunen 5). Personal fouls — South Medford 22, Redmond 17. Fouled out — Fiegi, Hagert, Matt Leunen. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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