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North pulls away from Eagle Point Photo by Drew Fleming for the Mail Tribune North Medford's Jenna Siebenlist, left, battles Eagle Point's Jenna Bilden for possession of the ball. Hodges and Mellbye lead the way as the Black Tornado wins its SOC opener By TED BURNHAM It's not uncommon for the best post players to get more rebounds than points. Which says a little something about North Medford's Kerstin Mellbye. The 6-foot-2 junior pulled down a dozen rebounds and scored 10 points as the Black Tornado beat visiting Eagle Point, 55-42, Friday night in the Southern Oregon Conference girls basketball opener. Mellbye and crew capitalized on dozens of Eagle Point turnovers - including 10 traveling calls - to control the game from start to finish. The Black Tornado also hit 15 of 23 free throws, while the Eagles sunk just 2 of 15. "Last year was difficult for us," Mellbye said. "This year, we just want to show how North Medford practices and how we play. Tonight, I was focused." Sophomore wing Brittany Hodges led North Medford with 13 points and hit all four of her free throws. Junior Chelsea Rettman had 10 points and sophomore Jenna Siebenlist added nine points for the Black Tornado. Junior Alisa Lee led Eagle Point with 10 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Jenna Bilden and sophomore Ashley Curtis had six points each for the Eagles. North Medford improves to 2-4 overall, and the Eagles drop to 1-4. Eagle Point led just once - three minutes into the game - when Lee hit a layup to make it 6-4. North Medford then scored 10 unanswered points in the first quarter and led by five or more for the remainder of the game. "We really concentrated on our guards, and we were working on getting to the right spot at the right time," North Medford coach J.T. Thomas said. "We did a pretty good job of not rushing it." "Brittany Hodges was a bit off in the first half, but she found some better looks in the second half." With just two free throws in the first half, Hodges broke out in the third quarter with three baskets in four minutes. She scored another four points with back-to-back fast breaks in the fourth quarter. "The main thing is to start out and win the tip," explained Tornado starting guard Anna Lilly, who had two points and five assists. "We have also been working on blocking out, and we did a good job tonight. It's what we needed to start out the conference." Despite trailing all night, Eagle Point remained game. "We were happy with the hustle," said coach Bob Kleker. "We came out and gave it 110 percent, but sometimes 110 percent isn't enough. The thing that killed us was the turnovers." Ahead 30-19 at halftime, North Medford led by as much as 19 points in the third quarter. "We just need to work on ball control," Kleker said. "We have to understand we don't have to rush things. Then we need to finish. Once we do that, things will start clicking." Next Tuesday, Eagle Point plays host to Roseburg and the Black Tornado travels to face powerful Crater. "I'm really excited for that game," Lilly said. "There's a lot of hype. I'm excited to go against Crater." EAGLE POINT (42) - Lee 10, Bilden 6, Curtis 6, Rouhier 5, Adams 5, Bateman 4, Winner 2, Stanfield 2, McLaughlin 2. Totals: 19 2-15 42. NORTH MEDFORD (55) - Hodges 14, Rettman 10, Mellbye 10, Siebenlist 9, Miller 6, Lilly 2, Westerman 2, Gentry 1, Eastwold 1. 19 15-23 55. Eagle Point ........................................... 11 9 11 11 - 42 North Medford..................................... 16 14 14 11 - 55 3-point goals - Eagle Point 2 (Rouhier 1, Adams 1), North Medford 2 (Rettman 2). Fouled out - Curtis. JV score - North Medford 61, Eagle Point 22. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.