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48 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, February 26, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend February 9, 2004 South boys prepare for streaking KU By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune Klamath Union head coach Bret Crawford won’t have to wait long to find out if his team’s recent winning streak has more to do with its schedule than improved play. The Pelican boys basketball team will put its four-game winning streak on the line at 7 p.m. Tuesday against a South Medford squad that knows a little bit about streaks as well. "We’re just really excited for the opportunity," says Crawford, whose team went 1-4 to open the Southern Oregon Conference before its recent run revived playoff hopes. "We’ve been playing well and we’re going to show up Tuesday and see what we can do. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain." In other SOC boys games Tuesday, Ashland is at Roseburg, Crater at North Medford and Grants Pass at Eagle Point. After a 47-43 loss at Grants Pass on Jan. 23, the Pelicans (11-7, 5-4 SOC) rattled off home wins over Eagle Point and Crater, then won at Ashland and, most notably, held on to top North last Friday in Klamath Falls, 49-43. The winning streak allowed KU to pull into a three-way tie for third place in the SOC standings with Grants Pass and North. Advertisement Excitement over that run, however, is tempered slightly by the fact that Eagle Point, Crater and Ashland are a combined 4-23 in SOC play heading into Tuesday’s slate. Regardless, KU boasts the Nos. 6, 7 and 8 scorers in conference in 6-foot-8 post Will Sargent, 6-4 wing Paxton Ritter and 6-3 wing Jacob Wynn. The Pelicans have made a more concerted effort in getting the ball down low to Sargent in recent weeks, and the slim post has met the challenge by raising his average to 13 points per game in SOC play. Ritter is averaging 12.6 points, while Wynn (12.2) has sacrificed some scoring for a more all- around game that has him leading KU with 28 charges taken. When clicking, that trio can be a handful for any opponent. "You have to try to control those three kids," says 16th-year South Medford head coach Dennis Murphy. "If you do, and we’re certainly going to try to, then I think it’s going to make for a good night for us." Murphy and crew know a thing or two about good nights in Medford. The second-ranked Panthers (18-1, 9-0) have won 36 straight games overall at home dating back to Jan. 30, 2001, when Roseburg beat South 51-38. Since that loss, the Panthers have gone 42-1 in SOC play. "It’s hard enough to play South, but it’s even scarier to play them in their own gym," says Crawford, in his sixth year guiding KU. "They don’t go cold there very much." Neither team struggled to score much in their first meeting this season. The only real problem was getting a defensive stop in South’s 85-73 victory. "It was just a track meet," Crawford recalls. "We just went up and down the court all night." The Pelicans’ 73 points proved to be the most allowed by the Panthers all season. "We thought when we played over there that they played hard and we didn’t play very tough defense," says Murphy. "We were happy to get out of there with a win." Murphy says his Panthers had an attitude that they were simply going to outscore the Pelicans in the first meeting. That won’t be the case Tuesday. "We hope that we’re going to defend them much better Tuesday," says the coach. On the flip side, Crawford simply doesn’t want to see the game decided in the first eight minutes by South’s pressure. "Our biggest thing is if we can hang around close in that first quarter," he says, "then I think we can make it a close game for the other three quarters. We just hope to hang around and have a chance to win in the end." Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times