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Making a statement photo by Roy Musitelli / Mail Tribune South Medford's Alan Johnson, right, slips a shot past Roseburg's Joe Newton in the Panthers' win. South romps in matchup of favorites for SOC title By TIM PYLE Mail Tribune When voting for the preseason favorite a month ago, Southern Oregon Conference boys basketball coaches were split between South Medford and Roseburg. If Wednesday night's SOC opener at South Medford High was a true indication, the jury should have been unanimous in the Panthers' favor. Relentlessly pressing on defense and constantly running on offense, South hammered the Indians, 65-40, in front of a packed gym. Senior point guard Ryan Heil and senior post Eric Fiegi scored 16 points apiece to pace the Panthers (10-1, 1-0 SOC), but contributions came from every South player. "Boy, the kids played hard," said 14th-year Panthers head coach Dennis Murphy, who is seeking his first SOC crown in four years and has his squad up to No. 3 in the state in the latest Class 4A coaches' poll. "We thought going in that our perimeter play was better. And that turned out to be true." Led by Heil, South outscored Roseburg (5-6, 0-1 SOC) 37-13 on the perimeter and forced 25 turnovers, most of which came from the Indian guards as they struggled to advance against the Panthers' pressure. Reigning SOC player-of-the-year Joe Newton, a 6-foot-7 post, kept Roseburg around early with nine first-quarter points and a hoop early in the second that gave the Indians their lone lead at 13-12. But South began double- and even triple-teaming Newton, and no other Indian could pick up the slack. "We originally weren't gonna double on him, but then we started doubling and actually tripling because no one else was gonna score," said Murphy, whose team bothered Roseburg into shooting 12 of 36 from the field and allowed Indians other than Newton to go just 7-for-25. "From that point on, they did struggle." Following Newton's early second-quarter basket that elicited Murphy's doubling and tripling tactics, the Panthers put together an 18-3 run to go ahead 30-16 by halftime. The second half brought more of the same for South, as Roseburg never got closer than the halftime score and trailed by as many as 27 - 62-35 - before the final horn. "It was our defensive guard play," said Heil, a returning first-team all-SOC performer who swiped three of the Panthers' 15 steals. "We put a lot of pressure on the ball and made them make some mistakes on the press." South senior wing Alan Johnson drilled a 3-pointer to open the scoring and contributed a fine all-around game with nine points, six assists and four rebounds. "He's a difference-maker," Heil said of Johnson. "He just put so much pressure, both offensively and defensively, on their guys, and that was a huge lift for us." Off the bench, the Panthers got an inspired effort from junior post/wing Eric Fischer, who grabbed all five of his rebounds in the second quarter and finished with seven points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field. In his marquee matchup with Newton, the 6-9 Fiegi started slowly but came on to tally 12 of his 16 points in the second half and snatch eight rebounds. He shot 8-for-14 from the field. Newton had 16 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 3 minutes, 33 seconds remaining. Fellow 6-7 post Brennan Garrelts was saddled with two fouls much of the first half and scored six of his nine points in the fourth quarter, when the game was long decided. "We just weren't patient, and South did a fantastic job of causing us to do some things that we don't normally do," said ninth-year Indians head coach Mike Pardon, who guided his team to a 13-1 conference mark for the SOC title last season. "They're a good team. ... They have two first-team all-league players from last year (Heil and Fiegi) and a lot of good athletes surrounding them - guys who can hit shots and get the ball down the floor." Heil took particular pride in the fact that the Panthers were able to avenge 77-52 and 51-38 losses to Roseburg last season. "Last year, they beat us by 25 at their place, and that was in the back of our mind," Heil said. "We came in here with an idea that we wanted to send a message to the SOC that maybe we're better than people think we are." ROSEBURG (40) - Stembridge 2, Garrelts 9, Newton 16, Hall 5, Brundige 2, Pust 4, Bauman 2, Waechter 0, Krieg 0. Totals 12-36 15-21 40. SOUTH MEDFORD (65) - Johnson 9, Marshall 5, Fiegi 16, Walport 6, Heil 16, Lower 0, Carpenter 0, Olson 6, Hagert 0, Fischer 7, Smith 0. Totals 27-55 8-16 65. Roseburg ............................................. 11 5 13 11 - 40 South Medford .................................... 12 18 14 21 - 65 3-point goals - Roseburg 1 (Hall 1), South Medford 3 (Johnson 1, Heil 1, Olson 1). Fouled out - Brundige, Newton. JV result - South Medford won. Reach reporter Tim Pyle at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.