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South closes in on SOC crown Mail Tribune/Roy Musitelli Eric Fiegi of South Medford fights through a crowd of Grants Pass players, including Bart Baily (40). Heil, Marshall come up big during a late run to power the Panthers past Grants Pass in SOC boys competition By DON HUNT Like a gallant prize fighter, the Grants Pass High boys basketball team took South Medford's best shot and still found itself standing in the final minutes on Tuesday night. But then Ryan Heil and Boomer Marshall provided the knockout blows, and the No. 2-ranked Panthers secured a 60-48 victory over the No. 4 Cavemen before a near sellout crowd of 1,800 at South High. The win boosted the Panthers to 10-0 in the Southern Oregon Conference and 19-1 overall, and moved them within one victory of clinching their first league title in four years. Grants Pass dropped to 7-3 in conference play and into a second-place tie with Roseburg. The Cavemen are 15-4 on the season. "Our guys came into this gym at the start of this season and decided we wanted to put another banner on the wall," said Marshall, a 6-foot-4 junior post who finished with 12 points and eight rebounds in perhaps his best game of the season. "And now we're within one win of doing that with four games to go. "We've swept Roseburg and Grants Pass - it's just a matter of time." The Cavemen trailed throughout the first half and found themselves staring at a 40-31 with 51/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter when they went on a 9-2 run to close the period and pull within 42-40. Brant Minor then nailed two free throws 27 seconds into the fourth period that tied the contest at 42. That's when Heil and Marshall took turns pummeling the comeback-minded Cavemen. First, Heil swished a 3-pointer from 23-feet away. Marshall then banked in a 12-foot jumper after driving around a defender, and followed with a 15-footer from the baseline after taking a pass from Heil. The seven unanswered points were tallied in just 61 seconds, and senior forward Allen Johnson followed with three points of his own. The 10-0 run gave South a 52-42 advantage with 5:17 to play, and the Cavemen never recovered. "I knew we needed a lift and I just felt like I could make that shot from that distance," Heil said of his long trey that would have been good from the NBA 3-point line. "I was pumped up when that one went in." Marshall, meanwhile, has often been in the shadow of Heil and senior center Eric Fiegi this season, but he wasn't shy about taking the back-to-back shots that succeeded Heil's trifecta and broke the Cavemen's back. "I just stepped up and contributed when my team needed it," Marshall said with a shrug. South Medford coach Dennis Murphy said Marshall has never been bashful when confronted with pressure situations. "Boomer's a gamer - he's been doing this sort of thing since the sixth grade," said Murphy, whose Panthers have now won 14 straight games. "He just does the right things down the stretch. You can count on it." Fiegi, who scorched the Cavemen for 27 points when the teams last met in January, settled for 19 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots this time around. Heil wound up with 14 points and six assists, and senior guard Adam Walport added seven points. Senior wing Bruce Voges and senior guard Tyler York paced Grants Pass with 12 and 10 points, respectively. "I think we used every ounce of energy we had to get to 42-42," Grants Pass coach Bill Cowell said. "From that point on we just didn't make any shots." With the biggest crowd of the season on hand to watch two of the state's premier teams, South Medford singed the nets in the early going. The Panthers drilled four 3-pointers in the first period, including two by Heil and one at the buzzer by reserve guard Pat Lower that gave the hosts a 24-16 lead. But two free throws apiece by Kory Mahr and Voges and a rebound basket by Voges pulled Grants Pass within 24-22 in the opening 1:24 of the second period. Back-to-back baskets by Fiegi made it 28-22 and the Panthers were able to build a 34-27 edge at the half. Fiegi scored four more points in the opening 2:15 of the second half and Marshall added a layup off an inbounds pass from Heil, giving the Panthers a 40-31 cushion with 51/2 minutes left in the third. Again the Cavemen came back. And again the Panthers counterpunched. That's what teams with 19-1 records do. "It was good for our kids to play in a game like this, where nothing comes easy," Murphy said. "It's the kind of game we're probably going to be seeing down the line (at the state tournament)." GRANTS PASS (48) - Voges 12, York 10, Cohen 8, Minor 7, Mahr 6, Bailey 5, Draper 0, LaLonde 0. Totals: 16-42 14-18 48. SOUTH MEDFORD (60) - Fiegi 19, Heil 14, Marshall 12, Walport 7, Johnson 3, Lower 3, Hagert 2, Smith 0, Fischer 0, Carpenter 0, Olson 0. Totals: 20-45 13-18 60. Grants Pass..........................................16 11 13 8 - 48 South Medford..................................... 24 10 8 18 - 60 3-point goals - Grants Pass 4 (Cohen 2, York 2), South Medford 6 (Heil 4, Marshall 1, Lower 1). Fouled out - None. JV result - South Medford won. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.