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South races to title game photo by Drew Fleming South's Nick Decker goes up for a big dunk as Crook County's Ryan McCarthy watches. By Randy Hammericksen It distinctly resembled South Medford boys basketball during the Panthers' run to Southern Oregon Conference titles and Class 4A state tournament appearances in 1996 through '98. The Panthers ran, pounded the boards and scored quickly Wednesday night in dismantling Crook County, 81-55, in the semifinals of the Abby's Holiday Classic at North Medford. South meets McNary of Keizer in the championship game tonight at 7:45 at North. McNary defeated North Bend, 62-50. The Panthers jumped to a 20-5 lead in the first quarter and never looked back in squaring its season record at 4-4. "In spurts, we played real well, but we didn't play well for the full 32 minutes by any means," said South coach Dennis Murphy. "We wanted to pick up the pace and be aggressive, and we did that pretty well." Pretty well? "I like what I saw, and it shows we are capable of playing hard," said a guarded Murphy. "We need to carry it over into the championship game." "Our goal was to come here and try to get to the finals," said Murphy. "Now we have a chance to go one step farther and win it." South Medford will go for its third Holiday Classic title tonight. It won in 1993 and '95 under Murphy. he Panthers were once again led by senior point guard Steve Hilgendorf, who scored 15 points and handed off eight assists. Senior center Nick Decker scored 14 points, pulled down eight rebounds and delivered a crowd-inspiring two-handed dunk in the third quarter that ignited the Panthers on an 11-1 scoring run. South outscored Crook County 22-14 in the third period to take a 60-38 lead. The Panthers had three transition layups in the period, two putbacks and Decker's dunk. On the dunk, Hilgendorf stole the ball and passed to Decker. "It was pretty exciting for our fans," said Decker. It was the second dunk for Decker this season. He had a chance for another dunk in the second half on a lob pass, but his shot caromed off the back rim. "I should have had it," said Decker. "It made me mad. I was going fast and misjudged it a little." Murphy said he had been waiting for such an offensive explosion for eight games. "We didn't do this all last year, but I felt this could be a team that could score a lot of points and be be aggressive," said Murphy. `We thought we could play 11 players and take advantage of our depth to wear down teams." Jared Abell, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, led Crook County (4-4) with 17 points. Guard Ryan McCarthy added 16. " Crook County is a good team, but we thought we could defend them and run on them," said Murphy. "I'm real happy with how we played for most of the game." South outscored Crook County 14-3 in the first quarter to take a 20-5 lead with 2:08 left in the period. Decker, David Kime and Colin Grant scored on layups in the surge and sophomore guard Ryan Heil buried a 3-point field goal. Decker displayed his shooting touch for a big man by drilling in an 18-foot jump shot from the top of the key. Grant finished the run by weaving his way through a cluster of defenders to score on a fastbreak layup. SOUTH MEDFORD (81) -- Hilgendorf 15, Heil 9, McKay 4, Rasmussen 7, Wallenberg 4, Mulhollen 2, Grant 13, Kime 8, Decker 14, Fiegi 5. Totals: 33-65 14-20 81. CROOK COUNTY (55) -- Moon 10, Gillen 3, Gray 0, Eckman 0, McCarthy 16, Abell 17, Lucas 4, Pinkston 2, Sloper 3, Conklin 0, Smith 0, Groves 3. Totals: 19-57 10-17 55. South Medford ...........21 17 22 21 -- 81 Crook County ...............7 17 14 17 -- 55 3-point goals -- South Medford 1 (Heil 1), Crook County 6 (McCarthy 3, Moon 1, Gillen 1, Sloper 1). Fouled out -- Wallenberg. MCNARY 62, NORTH BEND 50 --Shiloh Rowland paced McNary with 22 points, leading the Celtics into tonight's championship game with a win in the Abby's Holiday Classic at the North High gym. Post Ryan Medford added 14 points for the Celtics, who will meet South Medford in the title contest. Senior guard Ryan Schrader led North Bend with 13 points. MCNARY (62) -- Harris 2, Zielinski 7, Hess 0, Reznick 0, Cross 2 Ellison 6 Taylor 0, Rowland 22, Zahradnik 0, Lent 9, Medford 14. Totals: 27 7-9 62. NORTH BEND (50) -- Moe 4, Brockwinkel 0, Praus 8, Schrader 13, Speasl 2, K. Johnson 9, Peterson 9, Spring 2, Hunter 3. Totals: 16 15-18 50. McNary ..................17 8 18 19 -- 62 North Bend ..............8 13 9 20 -- 50 3-point goals -- McNary 1 (Zielinski 1), North Bend 3 (Schrader 1, K. Johnson 1, Peterson 1). GLENCOE 54, SHELDON 47 -- At North Medford High, senior post Nick Pitts tallied a game-high 16 points to help Glencoe turn back Sheldon. Glencoe will face McMinnville this afternoon at 3:45 p.m. in the consolation bracket final, while the Irish will face host North Medford at 2 p.m. Ben Moen-Arnold paced Sheldon with 14 points. GLENCOE (54) -- Henningfeld 8, Barnett 0, Benson 0, Gayman 8, Tingley 3, Fonder 6, McInnis 2, Richardson 0, Huson 0, Kirsch 2, Rice 7, Pitts 16. Totals: 23 8-14 54. SHELDON (47) -- Ross 0, Drennan 0, King 0, Martell 5, Erickson 0, Baker 7, Slonecker 7, Marsden 5, Copley 1, Moen-Arnold 14, Haliski 8. Totals: 16 13-20 47. Glencoe ............14 10 11 19 -- 54 Sheldon ................9 14 7 17 -- 47 3-point field goals -- Sheldon 2 (Marsden 1, Slonecker 1). Fouled out -- Martell, Gayman. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.