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North makes its case with defense Photo by Andy Atkinson North's Tressa Manwaring (33) drives to the basket against Crater's Amy Chase (15), Emily Wiley (43), Becky Arreola (55) and Janell Sapienza (24). Tornado girls topple Crater for quick start By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN CENTRAL POINT -- North Medford High's girls basketball team turned up its defensive pressure in the second half and emphatically ended Crater's 33-game home winning streak Friday night. The 48-37 victory allows the Black Tornado to take early control in the Southern Oregon Conference at 2-0. "We knew we had to come out and play better defense in the second half," said North senior guard Ashlee Giles, who scored 11 points and made 7-of-8 free throws. "We wanted to force some turnovers and run on them. You have to score to win, and our defense was the key." North led 25-23 at halftime, then outscored the Crater 10-6 in the third period by forcing six of the Comets' 19 turnovers in the quarter. The pressure continued in the fourth, which North won 13-8. The win sends North Medford into the Christmas break with a cheery feeling. Its SOC wins have come on the road over Klamath Union and Crater, the two teams expected to challenge it for the league title. "This win is huge," said North coach Mike Kay, who savored his 200th career victory in 11 seasons as a prep girls coach. "We were hoping for a split of the first two on the road." Crater has won the last three conference titles, with North third in 1996, second in '97 and second last year. This year could be different. Dave Heard, who coached the Comets to a second-place finish in the 1998 Class 4A state tournament, has a major rebuilding task on his hands. The upside is, he has a talented group of young players with which to do so. For North, the future is now. "It's great to win here," said Giles. "It's a first for me, and it feels real good." The Comets are handicapped because 6-0 sophomore center Jodi McLeod is playing on a severely sprained ankle. "Jodi will be tough the next time around," said Kay. "I'd say she's running at about 60 percent right now. That hurt them a lot because she's tough inside." Despite McLeod's injured ankle, the Comets still managed to dominate North inside during the first half. Crater had a 17-12 rebounding edge in the opening 16 minutes. "They pushed us around in the first half," said Kay. "We talked about going back and rebounding better and not allowing rebounds to turn into jump balls, with them tying us up. "We played a lot harder in the second half, and our defensive pressure bothered them." North senior point guard Lu Crenshaw scored 12 points and dished off seven assists. In addition, she hounded Crater point guard Sarah Yager, a 14-year-old freshman, with her tough defense. Yager finished with five points. "Lu played awesome defense," said Giles. "She took her (Yager) out of it. We knew our good defense would help us score more." North went on a 10-0 scoring run to take a 35-26 lead with 2:19 left in the third quarter. A 3-point field goal by Crenshaw from the right wing completed the run. North scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to move to a 40-29 lead. Crenshaw ignited the run with a 3-point bomb from the left wing. Giles then hit four straight free throws for a 42-31 lead, and Jennifer Ross added two free throws to make it 44-31 with 3:25 left. Crater (0-2 SOC) had no answer. "Crater will be heard from yet," said Kay. "But this is a real nice start for us. We like to play at home, so we'll look forward to playing them at our place (in the second round)." Tressa Manwaring added 12 points for North and Ross finished with 11. Post Emily Wiley led Crater with six points. Crater finished with a 33-32 rebounding advantage. Manwaring led North with 10 rebounds and Wiley had six for the Comets. NORTH MEDFORD (48) -- Crenshaw 12, Manwaring 12, Ross 11, Giles 11, Ledford 2, Close, MacLauchlan, Williams, Bennett, Nelson. Totals: 13-41 20-28. CRATER (37) -- Yager 5, Chase 5, Hemphill 4, Robbins 5, Sapienza 1, McLeod 4, Wiersma 4, Wiley 6, Johnson 1, Arreola 2, Durbin. Totals: 13-50 9-17. North Medford ........8 17 10 13 -- 48 Crater ........................ 7 16 6 8 -- 37 3-point goals -- Crater 2 (Yager 1, Chase 1). North Medford 2 (Crenshaw 2). Fouled out -- Yager, Giles. JV score: North Medford 41, Crater 32. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,