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Tornado surges past GP North Medford senior Oscar Banuelos moves upcourt as Grants Pass' Randy Clark defends during the first half of their Southwest Conference contest at North Medford High on Tuesday. The Black Tornado won, 65-51. [ANDY ATKINSON/MAIL TRIBUNE] Tuesday Jan 16, 2018 at 2:00 AM Jan 16, 2018 at 10:30 PM Kris Henry Mail Tribune @Kris_Henry North Medford let an opportunity pass it by last Friday, but the Black Tornado boys basketball team wasn’t about to let that happen again Tuesday night at North Medford High. With a chance to muddy up the Southwest Conference standings and move back to the top of the pack, North Medford conjured up a pivotal run to close the first half and then held firm to score a 65-51 triumph over Grants Pass, the league’s last remaining unbeaten team. “We just needed to bounce back tonight,” said North Medford senior Jake O’Connor. “This was a big one because it’s a three-way tie in the conference now. It feels really good to get this win.” O’Connor played his part in the victory by scoring all eight of his points in the first half, including a 3-pointer and an assist during the Black Tornado’s 12-0 run that closed the second quarter and allowed North Medford to take a 33-21 edge into halftime. “It was 21-21 and we turned the ball over on about four or five possessions and let them go in transition, which is what they really thrive on,” said Grants Pass head coach Tyler York. “We just couldn’t bounce back from that. We did a pretty good job other than about that four-minute stretch.” With the win, North Medford (13-2) moved on from its 67-63 road loss to South Eugene last Friday and pulled into a first-place tie with the Cavemen (9-6) and Axemen at 2-1 apiece in the SWC. Just off the pace are Sheldon and Willamette, each at 2-2 in league play. “We made a mess of the league so it’s anybody’s game now,” said North Medford head coach Scott Plankenhorn. “Everybody has a loss now and someone’s got to take it. Hopefully that can be us.” As usual, North Medford senior Kaison Faust was a focal point for his team’s success. The 6-foot-2 wing notched 22 of his 27 points in the second half and finished with six rebounds and three assists. Faust started the 12-0 run with a steal and breakaway dunk and later added a kick-out pass for a 3-pointer by Darrius Wells and a putback basket. Whenever the Cavemen threatened the Tornado’s advantage thereafter, Faust had an answer to help spur his team along. He eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career Tuesday, moving to 1,025 now as a Black Tornado. “I thought we played a good first half where everybody got involved and did a really good job,” said Plankenhorn. “But we knew what the matchup was and we started going to Kaison more in the second half, and that was a pretty smart move.” Oscar Banuelos scored seven of his 11 points in the first half to go with three assists, while Eli Spence scored all eight of his points in the opening two quarters, and O’Connor stepped up his scoring load by draining two rare 3-pointers to go with his four rebounds and four assists. “I’ve been working on them in practice quite a bit,” O’Connor said of his shots beyond the arc, where the 6-2 post was 2-for-21 entering the game. “We usually look for (Quinton Rumrey) and (Garrett Parker) for those, but I had an open shot and I’ve got to knock them down.” Tayler Phillips had 19 points and eight rebounds, Randy Clark scored 12 points and Tyler Rund added nine points and five boards to pace Grants Pass, which saw 20 turnovers cut into its ability to rally at North. “We’re still new to this kind of winning thing,” said York, whose team won six games overall last year. “It’s a great experience for us but to come in and expect to beat North at North is a tall, tall task. But I’m proud of our guys and how we competed, and at the end of the day it’s going to progress and we’re going to take the next step forward.” That sentiment of hoping his team takes the next step forward was shared by Plankenhorn, who credited the Cavemen for their performance Tuesday. “It was a chore tonight. Grants Pass came and played with great effort,” said the North coach. “We’ve just got to get better every day because our ceiling of where we can get, we’re nowhere near it right now. The goal is to start pushing toward that and stop fluttering around in the middle.” GRANTS PASS (51): Phillips 19, Clark 12, Rund 9, Anderson 7, Rich 4, Lopez 0, Rucker 0, Johnson 0. Totals: 19-41 10-16 51. NORTH MEDFORD (65): Faust 27, Banuelos 11, O’Connor 8, Spence 8, Rumrey 3, Parker 3, Wells 3, Thomas 2, Sandoval 0, Angulo 0. Totals: 24-47 9-10 65. Grants Pass;12;9;12;18;—;51 North Medford;17;16;12;20;—;65 3-point goals — Grants Pass 3-6 (Phillips 2, Clark 1), North Medford 8-16 (O’Connor 2, Faust 2, Banuelos 1, Wells 1, Rumrey 1, Parker 1). JV score — North Medford 48, Grants Pass 47. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected], www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry