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Tragedy mars South's win in triple OT Father of Lakeridge coach Heather Roberts dies after collapsing during the game By CLIFF PFENNING for the Mail Tribune Lakeridge, the No. 2 team from the Three Rivers League, played the second and third overtimes without coach Heather Roberts, who left the game after her father collapsed in the stands. Justice Seely, who was not breathing as he left the gym, was taken to nearby Meridian Park Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Roberts coached at Ashland until last year, when she took the job at Lakeridge. She was voted Three Rivers League coach of the year in her first season. The game came to a halt for 45 minutes in between the first and second overtimes as school personnel and then paramedics from Lake Oswego Fire and Rescue worked to resuscitate Seely, of Corvallis. He suffered cardiac arrest in the closing seconds of the first overtime. Seely fell to the floor from the first row seconds after South Medford's Whitney Grant had scored 25 feet in front of him to tie the game at 45-all. As play moved to the other end of the court, those sitting next to him began CPR. Paramedics arrived five minutes later as the 700 spectators sat in stunned silence. Lakeridge principal Tim Drilling contacted OSAA Executive Director Tom Welter by phone about whether the game should be completed, and, because the state tournament begins on Tuesday, was told that's what needed to happen. South Medford won in the third overtime, when junior post Beth Mueller scored six of her nine points. Grant, a 5-foot-6 guard and South's only senior, finished with a team-high 22 points. "It's really unfortunate that this had to happen," Grant said after the game. "We were pretty close with the Ashland team, so we know (Roberts) well. Our hearts go out to her." South Medford coach Andrea Jaime, who is seven months pregnant, was muted in her celebration. The Panthers are in the 16-team state tournament for the second straight year. "It's hard to be excited at a time like this," she said. "It's a totally sad situation." South Medford made seven of 10 shots from the field in the second quarter and led by as many as 12 points before settling into a 26-18 halftime lead. But the Pacers rallied into the lead with an 11-0 run to start the third quarter before Grant steadied the South offense, consistently driving to the basket for layups or free-throw attempts. And South needed every one of Grant's points to offset Lakeridge freshman Jillian Harmon. Harmon, who is 6-foot, scored a game-high 26 points and had three steals that led to baskets in the second half. "Whitney has been our leader all season," Jaime said. "That's what we look to her for." Mueller, who is South's tallest player at 6-3, scored just two points in the first four quarters but made good on her height in the third overtime, scoring twice after grabbing offensive rebounds. She played the final 5:31 of the fourth quarter and all three overtimes with four fouls. "We needed her in there for her size," Jaime said. "She did a great job of not picking up that fifth foul. That was a key for us." South will find out today after a seeding meeting which team and at what time it will play in the first round. Last season, the Panthers were seeded 13th and lost their first two games of the double-elimination tournament. Jaime said she hoped the upset of Lakeridge and the respect for league champion Crater would get the Panthers a higher seed this season. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.