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BOYS BASKETBALL Semi-Sweet: South Medford clinches finals date Bradford's free throw with 1.3 seconds to go clinches finals date for Panthers Comment By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry MailTribune.com By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry Posted Mar. 12, 2016 at 12:01 AM Updated Mar 12, 2016 at 10:12 AM By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry Posted Mar. 12, 2016 at 12:01 AM Updated Mar 12, 2016 at 10:12 AM --> South Medford 49, South Salem 48 RECAP: South Medford’s Conor Carroll scores 12 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter and Hunter Bradford’s free throw w... » Read more X South Medford 49, South Salem 48 RECAP : South Medford’s Conor Carroll scores 12 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter and Hunter Bradford’s free throw with 1.3 seconds left lifts the Panthers to victory in the Class 6A state semifinals. UP NEXT : 6A state championship, South Medford vs. West Linn, 8:30 p.m. tonight at Chiles Center in Portland. » Social News PORTLAND — With this being Dennis Murphy’s last ride as head coach of the South Medford boys basketball team, his players have certainly done all they can to make it interesting. For the second straight night, second-seeded South Medford took its Class 6A state tournament game to the wire and, once again, senior Hunter Bradford was at the forefront of postgame madness after his free throw with 1.3 seconds left gave the Panthers a 49-48 advantage they held onto to deny No. 6 seed South Salem on Friday. “That was the biggest shot I’ve ever taken in my life,” said Bradford amid a chorus line of hugs among Panther players and coaches. “I’m not going to lie, I was nervous and shaking a little bit. I just calmed down and said a little prayer and finally I thought, ‘I’ve got this, I’ve got this’ and went up there knowing I was going to make it.” After converting the front end of the one-and-one opportunity, Bradford’s second attempt wasn’t as pure and South Salem immediately called timeout and was granted one second on the clock after the horn went off. The Saxons’ last-ditch effort, however, was broken up on a deflection by sophomore Kaleb Franklin to secure South Medford’s third trip to the state championship game in 11 seasons. The Panthers (27-2) finished as the Class 4A (largest classification) runner-up in 2006 before earning the state’s first 6A crown in 2007. “I don’t think it gets any better than that, I know it doesn’t,” Murphy said of a spot in the finals. “After 28 years we’ve fought for this a lot of times, and a lot of times we even thought we should’ve been in it and couldn’t get ‘er done, so you’ve got to tip your hat to our kids. They’ve said from Day 1 that we’re going to play for the state championship.” In the Panthers’ path will be top-ranked and No. 1 seed West Linn (25-3), which opened the state tournament with a 41-point win over Jesuit and held off a valiant effort by Jefferson, 76-69, in Friday’s other semifinal. The Lions, led by Oregon commit Payton Pritchard, will be vying for a fourth straight Class 6A state championship at 8:30 tonight on the heels of Jesuit’s four-year run as champion. “It’s a huge task and we know that,” said Murphy, “but you’ve got to enjoy the moment and you’ve got to tip your hat to the kids that we’re there.” South Medford seniors Conor Carroll and Eskari Carter led the charge early before Bradford picked up the slack late for the Panthers against South Salem (25-3), whose only losses this season were to South Medford (twice) and North Medford. One night after going scoreless, Carroll came up clutch time and again with his game-high 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting, while Carter finished with nine points, three rebounds and two steals and Bradford battled through a relatively off night to post 15 points, six rebounds and three assists on 5-for-14 shooting. Bradford was an uncharacteristic 1-for-4 from the foul line in the second half prior to stepping up to the line with the outcome at stake. South Salem had tried for a deep go-ahead 3-pointer by Jaden Nielsen-Skinner after draining 30 seconds off the clock and it was Bradford who ran down the rebound and was fouled in the process with 1.3 seconds left and the Saxons in the bonus. South Salem called for a timeout to make Bradford think about what was in store, but his teammates had utter faith in the 6-foot-7 post, who tipped in the game-winner at the buzzer to win Thursday’s quarterfinal over Sheldon. “I was very confident in him,” said Carroll. “I knew he could hit the shot.” Murphy was, too, but that didn’t stop him from altering his long-standing approach as a head coach. “He had not shot the ball well all night and I normally don’t say anything to kids but I just said to him, ‘This is what you came here for,’ and he delivered. I’m awful proud of him but I’m proud of all of them. We got it done when we had to.” The teams battled back and forth for the better part of the game, with South Salem taking its largest lead of five points into halftime at 23-18 but the Panthers unwilling to give in thereafter. “We had a lot of teamwork and played hard,” said Bradford of his team’s mentality Friday. “We just gritted it out pretty much, that was a tough game.” South Medford had a short-lived lead late in the third quarter that was erased by a 3-pointer from South Salem’s Khalid Thomas, who had a team-high 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals. The fourth-quarter ebb and flow was scintillating as Carroll knocked down a pair of key 3-pointers to go with a pair of driving baskets to help the Panthers keep pace. Carroll scored 12 of his 19 points in the final frame. “He showed a real presence tonight,” Murphy said of Carroll, “and, to his credit, he came back and hit some shots early and then hit some big shots with a couple 3s and some drives to the basket late in the game for us. He really did come up big.” South Medford senior Raymond Benford supplied a game-high five assists with two steals and three rebounds, while Josh Washington battled foul troubles to finish with four points and four boards. Key for the Panthers was better second-half shooting, with South Medford knocking down 12 of 19 from the field (63.2 percent) and finishing 5-for-12 overall from 3-point range (41.7 percent). “We just know someone’s going to step up at the right time and we’ve done that all season and find a way to win,” said Murphy. “What more can you ask for?” Maybe another encore performance by Bradford? “I don’t know, I’ll just play hard and see what happens,” he said in matter-of-fact fashion. SOUTH SALEM (25-3) Khalid Thomas 5-12 3-4 15, Christian Russell 6-9 1-1 14, J. Nielsen-Skinner 3-11 0-0 7, Gabe Matthews 2-3 1-1 5, Gavin Baughman 2-4 0-0 4, Joe Carey 1-4 0-0 3, Tyler Wadleigh 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 19-45 5-6 48. SOUTH MEDFORD (27-2) Conor Carroll 7-9 2-3 19, Hunter Bradford 5-14 4-8 15, Eskari Carter 4-9 0-0 9, Josh Washington 2-4 0-0 4, Kaleb Franklin 1-2 0-2 2, Chase Cota 0-1 0-0 0, Raymond Benford 0-3 0-0 0, Riley Martin 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 19-44 6-13 49. South Salem;10;13;10;15;—;48 South Medford;12;6;13;18;—;49 3-point goals — South Salem 5-17 (Khalid Thomas 2-6, Christian Russell 1-2, Joe Carey 1-3, J. Nielsen-Skinner 1-5, Gavin Baughman 0-1), South Medford 5-12 (Conor Carroll 3-5, Eskari Carter 1-1, Hunter Bradford 1-5, Raymond Benford 0-1). Rebounds — South Salem 26 (Khalid Thomas 8), South Medford 27 (Hunter Bradford 6). Assists — South Salem 9 (J. Nielsen-Skinner 3, Gavin Baughman 3), South Medford 10 (Raymond Benford 5). Total fouls — South Salem 11, South Medford 13. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected], www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry MailTribune.com By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry Posted Mar. 12, 2016 at 12:01 AM Updated Mar 12, 2016 at 10:12 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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