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Varsity 541 NEWS NOW OIT president stepping down ... RVTD debuts emergency ride home program ... Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber says he's looking for work ... OIT president stepping down ... RVTD debuts emergency ride home program ... Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber says he's looking for work ... BOYS BASKETBALL South boys advance to semifinals Bradford's tip-in lifts Panthers over Sheldon, 47-45 Comment By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry MailTribune.com By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry Posted Mar. 11, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Mar 14, 2016 at 11:15 PM By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry Posted Mar. 11, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Mar 14, 2016 at 11:15 PM --> South Medford 47, Sheldon 45 RECAP: South Medford’s Hunter Bradford scores 17 points, including the game winner at the buzzer, and the Panthers advance to the 6A state tournament semif... » Read more X South Medford 47, Sheldon 45 RECAP: South Medford’s Hunter Bradford scores 17 points, including the game winner at the buzzer, and the Panthers advance to the 6A state tournament semifinals for the first time since 2007. UP NEXT: 6A state semifinals, South Medford vs. South Salem, 8:15 tonight at Chiles Center in Portland.     » Social News PORTLAND — If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try, try again. Those words never rang so true for South Medford’s boys basketball team than late Thursday night as the Panthers’ fourth attempt at a game-winning basket finally fell into the cylinder off the fingertips of senior Hunter Bradford for a heart-stopping, 47-45 victory over Sheldon. Then pandemonium set in at the Chiles Center around Bradford as South Medford celebrated its first trip to the Class 6A state semifinals since winning the championship in 2007. “I was just trying to get up and get the ball up on the hoop and hopefully it would go in,” Bradford said of his divine tip-in. “And when I got up there and finally got it, it was nice … I couldn’t believe it. That was the best feeling ever.” Bradford’s buzzer-beater was only one of a handful of momentous plays in the state quarterfinal featuring the top two teams from the Southwest Conference. Sheldon (20-7) was able to open a 14-4 edge on the SWC champions through one quarter, but South Medford (26-2) simply would not be denied in the final run for retiring head coach Dennis Murphy. “It shows how much great heart these kids have and how much they believe,” Murphy said after receiving a congratulatory hug from granddaughter Mia. “They said every time, ‘We’re not losing, we’re not losing, we’re not losing.’ Gosh, you can’t be anything but proud. It was a great effort by our kids.” Bradford finished with a game-high 17 points on 8-for-15 shooting and pulled down six rebounds to go with two assists and two blocks. Fellow senior Eskari Carter had 12 points, three steals and two assists and Josh Washington added six points and nine rebounds for the Panthers, who will face South Salem at 8:15 p.m. tonight in the semis. The Saxons, whose only losses this year were to South Medford and North Medford, outlasted Clackamas in another thriller, 82-74 in overtime, on Thursday. In other quarterfinal action, West Linn routed Jesuit, 84-43, and Jefferson won a double-overtime clash with Westview, 74-69. The fact that Bradford was able to net the final basket served as a little bit of redemption after he had missed a layin two possessions earlier and was roughed up on the play when he had his face stepped on in the melee for the rebound. With Bradford out, Sheldon continued to cut into a deficit that was as many as eight points with 2:20 to go by netting two free throws by Damian Williams to make it 44-43. South Medford sophomore Kaleb Franklin made one of two free throws to push the margin to 45-43 with 27.2 seconds left, but Sheldon senior Justin Herbert, who tied Williams with 13 points, scored a putback with 19 seconds to go over Bradford. After Herbert blocked Franklin’s driving effort with 3.7 seconds left, South Medford found itself with an inbounds play under the basket and no possible idea what was to follow. “I would tell you that’s not how we drew it up but that’s all right,” Murphy said of Bradford’s tip-in. Bradford had first dibs on a lob from Carter, then jumped up again to tap his miss toward the basket. Raymond Benford, who had seven points and solid defense all night, then volleyed the ball back toward Bradford, who slid just in front of teammate Conor Carroll for the timely tap. “We started off real slow and we knew we needed to pick it up a lot,” said Bradford, who was left with a big shiner under his left eye from a Sheldon sneaker. “But we just went to it and it was awesome ... we just played great after that.” The win marked the third of the season for South Medford over Sheldon, with the Panthers winning 63-45 and 61-52 in prior meetings. SHELDON (20-6) Justin Herbert 6-9 1-2 13, Damian Williams 3-7 6-6 13, Dimitri Williams 2-8 1-2 6, Ryan Walk 1-2 1-2 4, Will Swank 1-7 0-0 3, Kobe Mitchell 1-3 1-2 3, JR Wulf 1-2 0-0 3, Patrick Herbert 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Rygg 0-0 0-0 0, Jenner Higgins 0-1 0-0 0, Zach Diehl 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-40 10-14 45. SOUTH MEDFORD (25-2) Hunter Bradford 8-15 0-0 17, Eskari Carter 6-8 0-1 12, Raymond Benford 2-5 2-2 7, Josh Washington 3-5 0-0 6, Kaleb Franklin 1-6 1-2 3, Chase Cota 1-1 0-0 2, Conor Carroll 0-2 0-1 0, Riley Martin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-42 3-6 47. Sheldon;14;13;5;13;—; 45 South Medford; 4;20;12;11; —;47 3-point goals — Sheldon 5-18 (Will Swank 1-4, Ryan Walk 1-2, Dimitri Williams 1-3, JR Wulf 1-2, Damian Williams 1-4, Jenner Higgins 0-1, Zach Diehl 0-1, Kobe Mitchell 0-1), South Medford 2-4 (Hunter Bradford 1-2, Raymond Benford 1-2). Fouled out —South Medford-Josh Washington. Rebounds — Sheldon 27 (Justin Herbert 10), South Medford 23 (Josh Washington 9). Assists — Sheldon 6 (Justin Herbert 2), South Medford 5 (Hunter Bradford 2, Eskari Carter 2). Total fouls — Sheldon 15, South Medford 16. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected], www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry MailTribune.com By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry Posted Mar. 11, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Mar 14, 2016 at 11:15 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction Schedules & Events --> Recent Scores --> Prep Notebook Kris Henry Small mat programs make big leap at state It seems fitting that in a leap year, a pair of this area’s fledgling wrestling programs made big leaps at the state tournament in... Varsity 541 Photos South vs West Salem South vs Centennial South Medford Girls vs. St. Mary's Academy South vs Grants Pass South vs South Eugene South vs Roseburg » More Photo Galleries Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications | Contact Us | Advertise | © Copyright Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.