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Panthers snap three-game skid Sunday Dec 24, 2017 at 2:00 AM PORTLAND — The South Medford girls basketball team ended a three-game losing streak Saturday with a 59-47 victory over Forest Grove in the consolation bracket of the Portland Holiday Classic. The Panthers (6-3) lost their first two games of the tournament to a pair of Class 6A teams ranked in the top 8 of the state — Benson and Tigard — by a combined 47 points before bouncing back by beating the Vikings (4-4). “It had been a really hard few days up there,” South coach Tom Cole said. “We hadn’t played well in either game.” “We played the state’s best,” he continued. “These were eight teams that were either top teams in the state or projected to be top teams in there conference. (Friday against Tigard) we didn’t come out ready to play, there was a lot of head-hanging, and we got it handed to us as a result.” And while South improved its play during the first half against Forest Grove, it wasn’t until after halftime — trailing 31-28 — that the Panthers finally started to play with a greater sense of urgency and hit their stride, cranking up the defensive pressure to force turnovers while increasing their focus on the offensive end to limit their own mistakes. “We struggled the last few days with sloppy play and adjusting to teams that were good,” Cole said. “There’s just such a learning curve and so much maturity that goes into competing against high-level teams that have mature kids.” “There was a lot of growing up over the weekend, I’ll tell you that,” he added. “We didn’t get better for a couple games and they learned from it and they took a big step in learning how to close out.” Junior forward Ula Chamberlin — the Panthers’ lone upperclassman — put together an outstanding all-around effort with 27 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and five steals. Also posting a double-double was Chamberlin’s younger sister, freshman forward Kaili Chamberlin, with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Other standouts for South were sophomore guard Bella Pedrojetti (10 points) and freshman forward Shakia Perry (eight rebounds). Senior guard Emily Huson scored 17 to lead Forest Grove. The youthful Panthers now face an even more daunting road trip next week when they travel to Concord, Calif., to compete in a tournament featuring some of the top teams from throughout the entire West Coast, where they’re likely to experience more extreme growing pains. “We’re coming out of the fire into the frying pan,” Cole said. SOUTH MEDFORD (59): K. Chamberlin 11, Coleman 7, U. Chamberlin 27, Pedrojetti 10, Perry 2, Schmerbach 2, Fish 0, Dahlin 0, Laupola 0. Totals 29 6-9 59. FOREST GROVE (47): Huson 17, Lester 5, K. Rebsom 12, Barnett 3, Grosse 4, Aleshire 0, A. Rebsom 6. Totals 22 9-17 47. South Medford;18;10;19;12;—;59 Forest Grove;18;13;7;9;—;47 3-point goals — South Medford 5 (K. Chamberlin 2, Pedrojetti 1, U. Chamberlin 1), Forest Grove 6 (Huson 3, Lester 1, K. Rebsom 1, Barnett 1). Subaru Classic CASCADE CHRISTIAN 45, EAGLE POINT 33: Eagle Point led 29-28 after three quarters before Cascade Christian pulled away in the final period. Emily Stephens, a 6-foot junior center, scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to lead the rally by the Challengers (6-6), who trailed 27-21 at halftime. Kierssa Hogan, a freshman guard, had 11 points to lead the Eagles (4-3), who were held to six points in the second half. EAGLE POINT (33): Hogan 11, Monroe 0, Flores 6, Burgess 2, Swanson 0, Rincones 2, Lawler 3, Meerten 7, Hart 2. Totals 10 11-16 33. CASCADE CHRISTIAN (45): Willard 7, Reed 5, Alexander 5, Meilicke 2, L. White 5, Ferreira 2, Rineman 0, Stephens 17, R. White 0. Totals 15 9-13 45. Eagle Point;10;17;2;4;—;33 Cascade Christian;6;15;7;17;—;45 3-point goals — Eagle Point 2 (Hogan 1, Lawler 1), Cascade Christian 4 (Willard 1, Reed 1, Alexander 1, L. White 1). SANTIAM CHRISTIAN 56, PHOENIX 53: Phoenix led 41-39 after three quarters, but Santiam Christian rallied behind hot outside shooting in the consolation bracket. Taylor DeVry, a senior guard, finished with 16 points, including a trio of treys in the second quarter, while senior forward Isabella Lopez and junior guard Maggie Carrillo added 14 points apiece for the Pirates (1-7), who dropped their sixth straight. Kalli Ropp (19 points) and Audrey Miller (18 points) combined for all eight 3-pointers made by the Eagles (2-6), who ended a four-game losing skid. SANTIAM CHRISTIAN (56): Atkins 6, Risinger 6, Miller 18, Allman 7, Carley 0, Davis 0, Beck 0, Ropp 19. Totals 15 18-27 56. PHOENIX (53): Carrillo 14, DeVry 16, Kentner 2, Badillo 0, Lopez 14, Tellez 0, Bolstad 0, Parent 7. Totals 15 18-30 53. Santiam Christian;12;16;11;17;—;56 Phoenix;17;16;8;12;—;53 3-point goals — Santiam Christian 8 (Ropp 5, Miller 3), Phoenix 5 (DeVry 3, Carrillo 2). KLAMATH UNION 42, ST. MARY’S 26: St. Mary’s managed to trim the lead in the third quarter but ended up falling short against Klamath Union in the consolation bracket. Emma Bennion, a junior guard who was named to the all-tournament team, finished with a game-high 19 points to provide the overwhelming majority of the scoring for the Crusaders (2-9) — nine of 11 points in the first half and 10 of 15 in the second. Mercedes Charkins, a freshman guard, scored 16 to pace the Pelicans (6-4). KLAMATH UNION (42): Bustamante 0, Carlson 6, Mendez 9, Villalpando 0, Lawver 2, Najar 9, Haupt 6, Charkins 16, Pawless 3. Totals 16 8-21 42. ST. MARY’S (26): Lippert 0, Bennion 19, Alftine 0, Connor 0, Young 3, Dunn 0, McGill 0, Christman 0, Birmingham 0, Ward 4. Totals 11 2-7 26. Klamath Union;12;13;4;13;—;42 St. Mary’s;7;4;3;12;—;26 3-point goals — Klamath Union 2 (Carlson 1, Najar 1), St. Mary’s 2 (Bennion 1, Young 1). Fouled out — Alftine.