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Jefferson trips Grants Pass for third By CLIFF PFENNING PORTLAND � Grants Pass finished the Class 4A boys basketball state tournament where the seeding committee had it pegged � sixth � Saturday at Memorial Coliseum. No. 1 Jefferson, the defending state champion, blew open a close game with a 26-12 run in the second quarter and won going away, 84-60, in the third-place game of the OSAA/U.S. Bank-sponsored state tournament. Kansas-bound seniors Aaron Miles and Michael Lee combined for 42 points and the Democrats shot 51 percent for the game, finishing the year at 25-4. Miles set a tournament record for steals in a single game with nine. Grants Pass, which came within a basket of reaching the championship final on Friday, got 13 points from senior Andy Dobner and seven points and seven rebounds from senior Ian Elseth in the loss, which ended their year at 25-4. "We played great for a quarter and a half, and then they just got to us," Cavemen coach Bill Cowell said. "Still, it was a great week. It was fun to be part of the tournament. "There�s teams all over the country playing in tournaments that lose in the semifinals by one point. We were there, and it was fun." Grants Pass played the top three seeds in the tournament and Elseth ended up on the all-tournament first team. The sixth-place trophy was the first for Grants Pass since it won the state title in 1962. Churchill, which beat Grants Pass 64-62 in overtime in the semifinals, won the title by beating Benson in the final. Elseth said the week was a memorable time for him. "We got a couple wins, played in overtime in the semifinals and nearly got to the final," he said. "We had a great season. It lived up to our expectations." The Cavemen will graduate nine seniors: Elseth, Dobner, Nate Olson, Erik Hill, Craig Berg, Jerrod Dastrup, Luke Lathen, Brian Richard and Matt Rahn. Cowell said it would be hard to replace that group. "It�s rare to see nine seniors on a team because of the attitude you have to have to stay together," Cowell said. "If we can find people as good as those nine seniors, we�ll be good for a long time." Cowell said the experience of getting to the semifinals should pay dividends for the team in the future. "The program is there, but getting to the semis is big for motivation," he said. "It should help kids in practice staying to take that extra shot or staying in the weight room for that extra minute." GRANTS PASS (60) � York 5, Minor 8, Dobner 13, Berg 9, Elseth 7, Cohen 2, Olson 1, Hill 3, Dastrup 6, Lathen 4, Richard 2, Mahr 0. JEFFERSON (84) � B. Lincoln 6, Miles 22, Jackson 7, Lee 20, Profit 0, Spencer 0, Appling 5, C. Lincoln 16, Nelson 1, Martin 2, Gardner 3, Peterson 2. Grants Pass............................................15 12 14 19 � 60 Jefferson.................................................16 26 14 28 � 84 Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.