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GIRLS BASKETBALL: South closes strong, tops Benson By Mail Tribune staff Updated: Jan 28, 2022 10:54 PM A A PORTLAND — On the second night of a three-game road trip through Portland, the South Medford girls basketball team got the bounce-back game it was looking for Friday. Donovyn Hunter scored a game-high 19 points and No. 3-ranked South Medford used a 12-4 run to open the fourth quarter to create some breathing room and claim a 61-49 win over sixth-ranked Benson. “I thought that we responded well,” South Medford head coach Tom Cole said. “It’s tough to lose a game the way we did (Thursday) night and have everything that went into it and was a part of that formula, so to go through that and then to respond against a team that’s obviously one of the best in the state and be better than we were last night, it said a lot about the character of our team.” South (11-3), coming off a last-second loss to No. 5 Jesuit, was able to play Friday night’s game at a preferred pace, holding a 34-29 lead at halftime and never trailing at any point in the second half. While the Panthers didn’t extend their lead into double digits until the fourth quarter, Benson (8-4) — which entered Friday night winners of five straight — never cut it to a one-possession game, either. “I never felt like the game was out of reach,” Cole said. “Because of how athletic (Benson is), it never felt comfortable.” South’s fourth-quarter run got started by Hunter, who was able to get the putback on one of her eight rebounds to push the Panthers ahead 51-42. Seconds later, Tatum Schmerbach turned a Sierra Logue steal into a lay-in of her own to bring the lead into double digits at 53-42. Hunter added a jumper from the elbow and an easy layup in transition to cap the run, giving South its largest lead of the night at 61-46. Hunter, however, left the game with just over two minutes to go after taking an awkward fall in the paint on a drive to the basket. The junior guard, who tore the ACL in her right knee 2 1/2 years ago, was able to walk after the game and will have things evaluated further today, according to Cole. “After that happened, we transitioned well,” Cole said, adding that South also was without Logue in the final couple of minutes after she fouled out. “We got some really key rebounds and pushed the pace and made some big buckets.” Logue had a steady game with nine points, 11 rebounds and six blocks, while Lottie Dillard also finished in double figures with 13 points and added six rebounds and three steals. Kendall Fealey chipped in six points and six rebounds. As a team, the Panthers recorded 22 steals. “Sierra was really important in rebounds and blocked shots,” Cole said. “Lottie was drastically different than last night.” Malaya LeSueur led Benson with 17 points. SOUTH MEDFORD (61): Hunter 19, Dillard 13, S. Schmerbach 6, Ceron 2, Logue 9, T. Schmerbach 6, Fealey 6. Totals: 24 13-18 61. BENSON (49): Hashemian-Orr 8, Hinck 6, LeSueur 17, Brown 7, Chandler Roberts 11, Kennybrew 0, Boyd 0. Totals: 18 10-19 49. South Medford21141412— 61 Benson1910137— 49 3-point goals — Benson 3 (LeSueur 1, Brown 1, Hashemian-Orr 1). Fouled out — Logue. Technical foul — South Medford bench. JV result — Benson won. NORTH BEND 62, ASHLAND 27: At Ashland, Ashland’s return to the court after a 24-day pause started brightly but faded as things went on as North Bend got the Midwestern League win at Mountain Avenue Gym. The Grizzlies (2-9, 0-3 MWL) trailed by 10 after the first quarter but North Bend (9-7, 3-4) outscored Ashland 27-10 over the next two periods to pull away. North Bend senior Adrianna Frank led all scorers with 26 points. Three Ashland players — Abbey Lambert, Kendra Caruso and Lainie Carter — each had five points. NORTH BEND (62): Frank 26, Reeves 2, Morris 2, Barker 8, L. Riddle 2, Lambert 6, M. Riddle 4, A. Riddle 0, Breakfield 0, Medina 7, Edera 3, Pex 2. Totals: 24 6-9 62. ASHLAND (27): Montgomery 2, Sayre 1, Lambert 5, Caruso 5, G. Carter 2, Jenkins 2, Heiken 3, L. Carter 5, Robinson 2, Lundgren 0, Pokrob 0, Ayala 0. Totals: 10 4-8 27. North Bend20141315— 62 Ashland10557— 27 3-point goals — North Bend 2 (Frank 2), Ashland 3 (Caruso 1, Heiken 1, L. Carter 1). JV score — Ashland 48, North Bend 45, OT. PHOENIX 52, NORTH VALLEY 38: At Phoenix, sophomore guard Anabell Delgado went for a career-high 26 points to power Phoenix to its first Skyline Conference victory. Delgado also came up with five rebounds, three steals and drained all four of the Pirates’ 3-pointers, including back-to-back treys in the third quarter that provided the Pirates with the momentum they used to carry them the rest of the way. Morgan James racked up 13 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix (7-9, 1-3 Skyline), and Kyla Potratz corralled 10 rebounds. Kynna Nolan added nine points for the Pirates, who wore pink-lettered uniforms and shoes as part of the annual Coaches vs. Cancer program. The loss dropped North Valley to 9-7 overall and 1-2 in Skyline play. NORTH VALLEY (38): Moore 8, Hawkins 2, Schrock 4, Wheeler 8, A. Godfrey 9, S. Godfrey 0, Touey 7, Fagert 0, Neelans 0. Totals: 15 10-16 38. PHOENIX (52): James 13, Nolan 9, Potratz 0, Mohamud 0, Rector 4, Delgado 26. Totals: 16 16-24 52. North Valley127109— 38 Phoenix1691215— 52 3-point goals — Phoenix 4 (Delgado 4). Fouled out — Wheeler, Touey. ST. MARY’S 44, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 42: St. Mary’s senior Ryker Rothfus drained a 15-footer from the right wing to break a 42-all tie with about 11 seconds to play and the Crusaders held on for a Far West League victory over their crosstown rivals. Cascade Christian had a shot to tie by freshman Jordynn Jones go long in the waning seconds and the Challengers were unable to get a rebound shot up as time expired. Rothfus scored 12 points, Carmel Ashland had 11 and Maddie Ward had 10 points and 12 rebounds to pace St. Mary’s (3-6, 2-2 FWL). Jones had 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead Cascade (5-11, 0-3). Timnah Roberson rallied the Challengers to a 29-22 lead late in the third quarter, knocking down consecutive 3-pointers before a steal and assist to Callie Sweem inside. Cascade led 42-39 on a putback by Bella Williams with 1 1/2 minutes to play before a Rothfus free throw and a steal by Ashland led to tying basket by Lily Jensen with 30 seconds remaining. A Challengers turnover with 17.7 seconds to go gave the ball back to the Crusaders and Rothfus, who delivered with a clutch pull-up jumper. ST. MARY’S (44): Bowdoin 0, Ward 10, Rothfus 12, Erickson 6, Jensen 2, Ashland 11, Mills 0, Mejia 3. Totals: 17 9-14 44. CASCADE CHRISTIAN (42): Cramer 0, Sweem 3, Williams 4, Brehm 2, Coats 0, Jones 23, Pierson 2, Roberson 6, Purrier 2. Totals: 16 8-14 42. St. Mary’s4101515— 44 Cascade Christian611169— 42 3-point goals — St. Mary’s 1 (Rothfus 1), Cascade Christian 2 (Roberson 2). Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune St Mary’s Ryker Rothfus goes up for the game-winning shot during Friday’s game against Cascade Christian.