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Ashland gains share of SOC girls crown 17-point spurt lifts Grizz past South By GREG STILES ASHLAND -- The Ashland Grizzlies regained their zeal Friday night and were rewarded with at least a share of their first Southern Oregon Conference girls basketball championship. Ashland erupted for 17 straight points in the second quarter en route to a 66-50 victory over visiting South Medford. Hannah Seltzer scored 10 of her career-high 23 points in the decisive second period and South never got closer than 13. "We played with heart tonight," Ashland coach Heather Roberts said. "We haven't been playing with a lot of intensity and heart. "I told the team that someone came up to me and said the girls weren't as fun to watch as they had been. I told them that they owed it to their fans to be out there diving and scrambling for loose balls." A bundle of bruised knees that led to 25 Panther turnovers were testimony that the Grizzlies took their coach's challenge to heart. "We had nothing to save tonight," said junior post Chelsea Morgan. "It seems to take us a little while, but the shots started falling and we were having fun. It's fun to score lots of points." The Grizzlies head to Central Point Tuesday seeking an outright SOC title at Crater. "Our main goal is to get to Portland and the only guaranteed way to get there is win the conference championship," Roberts said. If Ashland (16-4, 12-1 SOC), wins Tuesday it goes to Portland as the SOC's No. 1 team. But if Crater (13-9, 8-5) wins and North Medford (16-5, 10-2) wins its final two games against Eagle Point tonight and Roseburg Tuesday, the Black Tornado would gain a share of the title. North would also advance to the tournament as the No. 1 team, because of the conference's tie-breaker. North swept Crater and would advance because Ashland would have only split against the third-place team. Hence, Tuesday's game means everything to the Grizzlies. "We never imagined we'd be where we are," Seltzer said. "We just wanted to compete. "Crater started slow, but it's obvious they're one of the top teams in the conference and has momentum. We want to go over there ready to play and hope someone knocks off North, too." The odds decrease rapidly for gaining a berth in the March 2-6 Class 4A state tournament at the Chiles Center on the University of Portland campus for teams not penciled into the 16-team bracket. The runner-up has to win a home playoff game, the No. 3 team has to win playoffs at home and on the road and No. 4 has to win one at home and two on the road. A week after stumbling to their lone conference loss, the Grizzlies looked tournament-ready against South (11-11, 5-8). Throw out a frigid 3-for-14 first quarter shooting performance and the Grizzlies were 18-of-35 the next three quarters. Seltzer hit four 3-pointers, yanked down 11 rebounds, dished out seven assists and had two steals as she surpassed her previous high of 17 points against Roseburg. "We keep trying to pound the ball inside and when we pound the ball inside, good things happen outside," Seltzer said. "Everyone knows that Jackie (Woods) and Chelsea are two of the top posts in the conference. People go down to help out on defense with them. They don't recover in time to cover our guards and our guards are good shooters." The teams combined for 5-of-27 shooting from the floor in the first eight minutes. South's Lynn Wooton scored the first four points of the second quarter to give the Panthers a 12-10 lead. It last 17 seconds. Jenny Pippa, who had seven assists to go with 12 points, tossed in a twisting shot from the lane to tie, Then Morgan, who was 9-of-13 at the foul line and finished with 11 points, bagged a free throw to give Ashland the lead for good. It was 35-18 at the half. Ashland outscored South 6-2 to start the second half to push the lead to 40-20 on Seltzer's drive. The Panthers whittled the deficit to 45-32 when Perttu finished off a fastbreak. But Snow Staples halted the surge with a 3-pointer and the Grizzlies pulled away. Seltzer's 3-pointer off an inbounds play with 6:08 to play gave the Grizzlies their largest lead, 59-37. "We need to pass against their press, rather than dribble," Perttu said. "Sometimes, we get excited and try to get the ball up the floor as fast as we can. We need to keep our heads up and look who's open, especially when they're trapping." Woods added 11 points for the Grizzlies. Wooton led South with 15 points and Kellie Thomas had 14. Both came off the bench. "We fought hard for the whole game," South Medford coach Andrea Wegner said. "We need to learn to come back for the ball against their press. There are simple things we'll learn. SOUTH MEDFORD (50) -- Perttu 2, Flood 0, Wooton 15, Munoz 6, Fossen 6, Narus 2, Mason 0, Thomas 14, Hunt 0, Zenz 5, Grant 0. Totals -- 16-48 18-21 50. ASHLAND (66) -- Morgan 11, Staples 3, Bullen 4, Seltzer 23, Pippa 12, Woods 11, McNaught 0, Zundel 0, Noyes 2. Totals -- 21-49 18-26 66. South Medford ............8 10 18 14 -- 50 Ashland .....................10 23 17 14 -- 66 3-point goals -- Ashland 6 (Staples 1, Seltzer 4, Pippa 1). JV score -- South Medford 59, Ashland 58. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford,