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Crater crawls to win over South photo by Alex Szlachtianshyn With slower pace, South makes it close By Greg Stiles CENTRAL POINT � The plan was simple. The execution wasn�t bad. Had another shot or two fallen or a couple of breaks gone their way, the South Medford Panthers might have earned more than a moral victory Tuesday night. As it was, South Medford gave No. 2-ranked Crater all it could handle before sinking four free throws in the final 41 seconds to seal a 35-27 Southern Oregon Conference victory. The Panthers put aside their penchant for running and pressing for an evening. Instead, they held the ball � while Crater stayed in its zone � and nearly pulled off the biggest upset of the SOC season. "The idea was to take them out of their game and hopefully let us control the tempo, which we did," said South Medford junior point guard Whitney Grant. "It�s definitely a different pace than we�ve played. We had to be patient and had to believe it was going to work." But the Comets kept their poise and scored the final six points after South pulled within two points with three minutes to go. Crater completed the first half of the SOC 7-0 and improved to 15-1 overall. South Medford is 4-3 in the SOC and 8-8 overall. "We knew one team or another was going to stall against us," said Comet Amy Denson. "We just didn�t know it was going to be like this. It definitely gave us more experience and got us ready for games like this in the future." Denson, who suffered through perhaps her poorest shooting night of the season, doggedly grabbed her own missed shot and stuck the next shot in to give Crater a 31-27 advantage with 2:40 to play. "When Amy missed a 6-footer she makes 95 percent of the time, I thought maybe this is the night we�re going to get beat," Crater coach David Heard said. "At the same time, I never felt like we lost control." Although the Comets had the opportunity to take time off the clock, they shot errantly and South rebounded, then Crater turned over the ball. The turnover gave South a chance to again pull within two with 58 seconds left. But Emily Perttu, the game�s leading scorer with 12 points, missed two free throws. After that, the only thing the Panthers could do was foul, and the Comets sank 4 of 6. "We put this in (Monday)," South Medford coach Andrea Wegner said. "I�ve got smart kids, and they can do almost anything. I was less hesitant to try this than if we were home." Although Crater led from its second possession on, the Panthers stuck like pitch from a Christmas tree. The Comets� biggest lead of the first half was seven points. Jody McLeod�s 9-footer from the right baseline made it 17-11 at the half. Two things were apparent: South wasn�t going to abandon its game plan, and the Comets couldn�t get into an offensive rhythm. "I don�t think we got into a flow," Heard said. "The other thing they did well was make sure they put a body on us on our shots, and they had a couple of putbacks." Crater twice extended its advantage to eight points in the third quarter on baskets by Denson and Whitney Black. But a six-point run, fueled by a pair of Kellie Thomas hoops, reduced the deficit to 21-19. But McLeod, who led the Comets with 10 points and 10 rebounds, hit a pair of free throws and then took a feed from Janell Sapienza for a layup and restored a four-point advantage going into the fourth quarter. "I think the delay wore on them, and we pushed the ball a little more in the second half," Wegner said. "We kept them off guard a little more. "We didn�t get any calls in the second half and we needed a couple more shots to fall." Heard was happy to see his team challenged. "We learned to stay together in tough times," Heard said. "And we learned that even if the shots aren�t falling, we can still play defense. I thought Janell did a great job on the boards in the last four minutes. She seemed to get every rebound." SOUTH MEDFORD (27) � Perttu 12, Wright 0, Grant 7, Hunt 2, Thomas 6, Zenz 0. Totals: 8-31 11-14 27. CRATER (35) � Black 2, Pool 7, Sapienza 7, McLeod 10, Denson 7, Johnson 2. Totals: 12-36 8-11 35. South Medford.............................................7 4 10 6 � 27 Crater..........................................................12 5 8 10 � 35 3-point goals � South Medford (0-7), Crater 3-9 (Pool 1, Sapienza 1, Denson 1). JV score � Crater 48, South Medford 44. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4483, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.