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North boys will be hard to slow down By KRIS HENRY North Medford's sheer dominance of the Southern Oregon Conference takes a little mystery out of today's district tournament in Ashland -- but not all of it. The Black Tornado returns the top two singles players and the No. 1 doubles team from last year's SOC tournament. That foursome helped North finish fourth at state, and the Black Tornado players and coaches have gone on record with the notion that anything short of the state title this year will be a letdown. "We're straightforward this year -- win state. That's it," North junior Jon Endrikat said prior to the SOC season. That's not to say North Medford is overlooking the importance of today's district tournament -- the Black Tornado is simply that good. "The team is looking really, really tough," says North Medford coach Cary Collins. "Our main goal is to get through the district. State is our priority. It has been all year. Right now, we just want to take as many people as we can to state." The Black Tornado and Jesuit enter their respective district tournaments as favorites for the state title, to be played May 20-22 in Beaverton. North Medford's Scott Schnugg and Deryk Inn enter district ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in singles, while the brother tandem of Chris and Jon Endrikat top the doubles seedings both at district and in the state. "Those four are pretty cut and dried," says Collins. "I wouldn't say there's going to be much surprise there." Noah Lichtenstein of Crater will try to throw a wrench in North's plans for a singles sweep. The junior placed third in last year's district, but has the skills to be competitive in any given match. A big boost to North's state-title hopes could come from one or both of its other doubles entries. The team of Dru Philips and Josh Rapp gained the No. 4 seed in doubles, with the tandem of Brock Jonasson and Jeremy Leever also posing a threat of advancing to state. With North a runaway favorite, Roseburg stands to be the best bet for second place, thanks to its doubles pairings of Todd Lindbloom and Ty Garrison and Joe Gonzales and Ryan Felker. The Lindbloom-Garrison pairing is seeded second, with Gonzales-Felker seeded third. Ashland and South Medford also will be vying for the second spot, with South junior Zack Matthews earning the No. 4 seed in singles after a strong showing this season in his first singles action. Sophomore Aaron Harris paced the Grizzlies last year in singles by finishing fourth in the district and could fare well again. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.