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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 7, 2006 South Medford post Kyle Singler dunks the ball at the close of the first half Friday against North Medford at North Medford High School. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman South sustains streak By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune South Medford looked as if it was merely going through the motions Friday night in its Southern Oregon Conference boys basketball opener at North Medford. Typically a lively bunch, the Panthers couldn’t quite match the Black Tornado’s enthusiasm on either end of the court, and a subdued post-game locker room was the end result. That, and a 31-point victory. Unfair or not, a 73-42 triumph over North Medford on Friday night still left the Panthers (9-1, 1-0 SOC) wanting more. A No. 1 ranking in the state will do that to you. Advertisement "We didn’t really have a good week of practice and I don’t think we were focused enough," said South sophomore Michael Harthun. "I think we took North a little too lightly. We expected to win but we expected to win a little bigger than this. We didn’t really come out ready to play." Five points in the final 45 seconds of the first quarter allowed North Medford (3-8, 0-1) to trim its deficit to 12-8, and the Black Tornado kept the margin around five points in the second quarter until South used an 11-2 run to take a 31-17 lead at halftime. The two teams traded baskets for half of the third quarter until the Panthers’ edge in talent, height and experience finally took over. South senior Kendall Gielow and Harthun were the driving forces behind the rout, with Gielow pouring in 21 points and Harthun adding 20, but neither could be seen offering high-fives after the rout. "We have a lot of expectations for our team being that we are a high-caliber team, so tonight was a little disappointing," said Gielow, who had 13 of South’s 26 points in the third quarter. "We’ve got to bring it more ... but, then again, we got a win so it’s hard to be too down." The win proved to be South’s 12th straight over its cross-town rival, and nearly doubled the average margin of victory (16.9 points) over that span. Still, the final score belied the true nature of Friday’s contest. "I thought North competed extremely hard and tried to do the things they felt they needed to do," said South coach Dennis Murphy. "In the end we blew it out, but it was a five or 10-point game for a while to their credit." That sentiment was echoed through a North locker room not pleased with the final score, but realistic of the long odds the Tornado faced before stepping on the floor with no returning starters and limited varsity experience overall. "We don’t feel good about the blowout, but we feel good about everything else we’ve done," said North senior Abe Eubank. "We know other people are going to see the score and think it was a blowout, but we know it wasn’t. We played with them for a little bit; at the end they just started pulling away. They are the No. 1 team in the state, so you’ve got to give them credit. They’re pretty good." After a quiet first half, Eubank was lights out in the third quarter to help North answer an opening outburst by South. The 6-foot-2 post scored 12 straight points for the Tornado coming out of halftime and gave his team a tremendous boost of confidence with his array of baskets on the transition break. "I just wanted our team to stay in the game and I got open shots and wasn’t forcing anything," said Eubank, who finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. It was that type of patience displayed by North that kept the game within reach for 2½ quarters. The Tornado continually worked for a quality shot, whether it went in was another issue. The majority of North’s points came via its transition game, with freshman guard Jordan Ellis (13 points) and Eubank benefiting the most from a soft Panther press. "We didn’t have any effort on the press," said Murphy. "We need to be able to press better than that. That’s all about effort and we didn’t have much tonight." Harthun and Gielow did their best to lift South out of its doldrums, with each carrying the load in spurts to keep the Panthers from flaming out all together. "It got a little sloppy out there at times," said Harthun. "We weren’t playing up to our potential and weren’t playing as a team as much so sometimes on a fastbreak I tried to pull up on a couple jumpers to try to get into a rhythm a little bit." And when that wasn’t happening, Gielow was busy draining shot after shot from 18 feet on in. "Kendall Gielow had a heckuva third quarter," said North coach Tim Sam. "Everything he threw up went in, contested a couple times and not contested a couple times. He played really well." Kyle Singler finished with 13 points and Brent Johnson added seven points, five rebounds and five assists for the Panthers, who will play their ninth straight road game Tuesday at Klamath Union. SOUTH MEDFORD (73) — Gielow 21, Harthun 20, K. Singler 13, Johnson 7, E.J. Singler 5, Anderson 3, Grimes 2, Stanek 2, Daley 0, Desimone 0. Totals: 26-48 17-23 73. NORTH MEDFORD (42) — Eubank 14, Ellis 13, Williams 3, Theel 3, Slowey 2, A. Stroh 2, Neel 2, Blaschka 2, Stefanson 1, E. Stroh 0, Pecktol 0, Ross 0. Totals: 14-38 9-13 42. South Medford........................12 19 26 16 — 73 North Medford........................8 9 17 8 — 42 3-point goals — South Medford 4-13 (Harthun 3, Gielow 1), North Medford 5-14 (Ellis 3, Williams 1, Theel 1). Fouled out — Theel. JV score — North Medford 46, South Medford 37. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail South sustains streak ">[email protected] . 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