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Photo by Andy Atkinson South's Colin Grant (32) drives against Crook County's Ryan McCarthy. Big men lift South over C.C. By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN South Medford High's boys basketball team turned up the pace of its transition game on Monday night. The result was a 79-61 win over Crook County in the opening round of the Abby's Legendary Pizza Classic in the South gym. "We had three big guys to rebound, and we wanted to try to leak out one of our wings and go," said South junior point guard Steve Hilgendorf, who had 12 points and seven assists. "It was my job to get out and get the ball to get us going." The Panthers (4-4) scored 14 transition layups out of their 32 field goals. They advanced to tonight's semifinals against Century High of Hillsboro at 7:45 p.m. Jared Abell, a 6-6 junior wing, scored 35 points, including three 3-pointers and a pair of three-point plays, to lead the Cowboys. "He's tough," said South coach Dennis Murphy. "He gets it off fast, and he's a great shooter. He's not afraid to shoot, and he shouldn't be the way he shoots it." After falling behind 7-4 early, South Medford rolled to a 24-12 lead with the help of its running game and strong offensive board work by 6-7 Nick Decker and 6-5 Graham Foster. South upped its lead to 35-22 on an 11-4 run that was highlighted by seven points off its transition game. The Panthers led 44-32 at halftime, with the help of 17 points from Foster and 10 from Decker. "That's the best our big guys have played together all year," said Hilgendorf. "They both shot the ball real well. If they keep playing like that, it will make us a lot better." Foster finished with a career-high 20 points. Decker, who didn't score in the second half, was 5-for-5 shooting. He only shot twice in the second half. "We wanted to play more consistently, and push the ball up the floor better," said Murphy. "We did a pretty good job, but we still have to play better defense than we did tonight." "We tried just about everybody on Abell," said Hilgendorf. "Nobody could really stop him. He's a good shooter." South stretched its lead to 55-40 with 2:30 left in the third quarter, but Crook County, led by Abell, cut the lead to 61-54 with 6:19 left in the game. Two straight transition field goals by Hilgendorf and two layups by junior forward Colin Grant, upped the lead to 69-54 with 4:12 left. CROOK COUNTY (61) -- Abell 35, Inman 4, McCarthy 12, Moon 8, Schmidt 0, Huff 2, Sloper 0, Ditto 0, Fitzpatrick 0, Wells 0. Totals: 23 9-9 61. SOUTH MEDFORD (79) -- Foster 20, Hickey 12, Hilgendorf 10, McKay 0, Rasmussen 1, Wallenberg 4, Grant 16, Kime 6, Tomlins 0, Decker 10. Totals: 32 13-22 79. Crook County ..................16 16 17 12 -- 61 South Medford ................24 20 13 22 -- 79 3-point goals -- Crook County 6 (McCarthy 2, Abell 3, Moon 1), South Medford 2 (Grant 1, Foster 1). Fouled out -- Abell. Technical fouls -- McCarthy. CENTURY 56, WEST ALBANY 51 -- Senior Mike Albertson scored a game-high 23 points to lead Century of Hillsboro past West Albany in the opening round of the Abby's Holiday Classic. Junior Nate Pendley paced West Albany with 15 points, while senior Ryan Roberts added 13. CENTURY (56) -- Albertson 23, Betz 2, Hepp 9, Sommers 7, Willis 3, Waller 0, McCain 0, McHill 6, Bailey 0, Handyside 2, Shilliman 0, Keanaaina 4. Totals: 19 9-16 56. WEST ALBANY (51) -- Pendley 15, Brown 2, Wadlow 7, Plemmons 0, Graham 0, Roberts 13, Meyers 5, Koos 3, Spady 6. Totals: 21 9-17 51. Century ......................17 12 13 14 -- 56 West Albany ...............13 14 13 11 -- 51 3-point goals -- Century 3 (Hepp 1, Sommers 1, Willis 1). Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,