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The Grants Pass senior, who was the preseason favorite to win the SOC player of the year, is a near unanimous choice for the top honor Kory Mahr entered the 2002-03 season as one of the few marquee players returning to the Southern Oregon Conference. Instantly labeled as the preseason favorite for SOC player of the year, the 6-foot-6 Grants Pass senior did what he seemingly always does when the spotlight is on him: he shined. Mahr did everything a team could ask for from its leader, averaging 14.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and three blocks per game in one of the most balanced displays of the season. For his efforts, Mahr fell only one voter shy of a unanimous selection as the conference's most valuable player in a vote of SOC coaches. Mahr garnered 101 of a potential 105 points available, landing six of his possible seven votes for top player since coaches are not allowed to vote for their own player. It's a great honor, especially since there were quite a few deserving candidates this year, said Mahr, who was a unanimous top choice to earn his second straight spot on the SOC's all-defensive team. It's just a tribute to all my teammates for all they've done this year, too. Crater senior Andrew Norum was awarded the two remaining top votes, finishing second overall with 95 points. Rounding out the SOC first team were juniors Ryan Lucas of North Medford (87 points), Ryan Fiegi of South Medford (73) and Jacob Wynn of Klamath Union (71). Lucas led the SOC in overall scoring at 18.1 points per game, while Norum was second at 17.8, Wynn third at 17.3 and Mahr fourth. In SOC-only scoring, Norum was a runaway leader at 18.9 points per game, followed by Wynn (16.1), Lucas (15.9), North Medford junior Beau Hovland (14.1) and Mahr (14.0). Kory's the player of the year, and rightfully so, said South Medford coach Dennis Murphy, who earned his second straight coach-of-the-year nod, sharing the honor this year with Bill Cowell of Grants Pass. So many people want to base productivity on how many points you score, but he makes all his teammates better because of his presence and how hard he works. If you need him to score, he scores. If you don't, he makes it happen somewhere else. Through it all, Cowell has had a front-row seat to watch what he considers one of the most unselfish players ever to don a Cavemen uniform. I don't think I've ever coached anybody that's more competitive than he is, said Cowell. The way he shows up in big games, and he's done it for three years, is just unbelievable. Mahr proved that point in Saturday's third-round state subtournament victory over Grant, scoring a career-high 27 points to help put the Cavemen (20-5, 12-2 SOC) into the state tournament for the fourth straight year. Anything I can do to help my team, I'm going to do, said Mahr, who has signed to play football at Northern Arizona University next fall. I'm not going to try to do something spectacular. Whatever teams give us, I'm willing to take. I've never really prided myself on scoring. If I score 20 points per game, that's only great if it helps my team win. There's so many more facets to basketball than just scoring. South Medford (21-2, 13-1 SOC), SOC champions for the second straight year, equaled Grants Pass for the most honors with five players apiece on the all-SOC team. Other Panther nods went to junior Craig Johnson (second team), senior Jeremy Frantz (third team) and honorable mention selections for junior Andy Hagert and senior Eric Fischer. Hagert and Fischer also were on the all-defensive squad, joining Mahr, Norum and Roseburg junior Kerry Hall. A full listing of the SOC all-stars follows. SOC All-Stars Coaches selected 15 players, with No. 1 getting 15 points, No. 2 14 points, etc. Coaches did not vote for own players FIRST TEAM PlayerSchoolYr. Pos.Ht.Pts. Kory MahrGPSrP6-6101 Andrew NorumCraSrP6-4 95 Ryan LucasNMJrP6-3 87 Ryan FiegiSMJrG6-4 73 Jacob WynnKUJrG6-3 71 PLAYER OF THE YEAR ' Kory Mahr, Grants Pass. CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR ' Dennis Murphy, South Medford, and Bill Cowell, Grants Pass. SECOND TEAM Seth BaumanRoseJrP6-6 68 Craig JohnsonSMJrP6-4 64 Zach TuckerKUSrW6-5 54 Clint BryanAshSrP5-11 48 Beau HovlandNMJrG6-2 46 THIRD TEAM Josh PustRoseSrW6-1 39 Ryan DavidsonGPSrP6-2 37 Jeremy FrantzSMSrW6-2 34 Bryan ClevengerAshSrG6-1 34 Tim MartinenEPSrG6-0 28 HONORABLE MENTION ' Matt Cowell, Jr., Grants Pass; Andy Hagert, Jr., South Medford; Kerry Hall, Jr., Roseburg; Tom Higgins, Jr., Grants Pass; Eric Fischer, Sr., South Medford; Brian Clifton, Sr., North Medford; Mike Pollock, Jr., Grants Pass; Jay Slezak, Jr., Crater. ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM ' Kory Mahr, Grants Pass; Kerry Hall, Roseburg; Eric Fischer, South Medford; Andrew Norum, Crater; Andy Hagert, South Medford.