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Revived North tips Crater in overtime By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN After a difficult start in Southern Oregon Conference play, North Medford High's boys basketball team has righted itself in time to revive state playoff hopes. The Black Tornado, the defending SOC champion, completed first-round conference play Friday night with a 55-51 win over Crater in overtime in the North gym. North Medford enters the second round of SOC play Tuesday night at South Medford with a 4-3 record, good for a third-place tie with South and Eagle Point. The Black Tornado is 7-9 overall. Early losses to South Medford and at front-running Roseburg had North Medford chasing the SOC leaders during the entire first round. But North has a two-game winning streak and heightened hopes for the second half. "I think we're back," said North Medford guard Wes Towne, who scored 16 points against Crater, including 10 in the second quarter. "We're starting to play harder and with more confidence." Junior guard Mike Olson also scored 16 points for the Black Tornado. Olson and Towne give North one of the most complete tandems of starting guards in the SOC. "Wes is offensive-minded, and so is Mike," said North Medford coach Gene Quilhaugh. "And both of them are playing good defense." Quilhaugh said he wasn't pleased with North Medford's listless start against Crater, which resulted in an 8-0 deficit 2 minutes into the game. "We were slow to focus," said Quilhaugh. "It's been a problem. We don't seem to play as hard at the start as we do at the end.'' In the four-minute overtime, North limited Crater to four points and just two during the first 3:48 of the session. Meanwhile, Olson converted two free throws, Chris Weyers made a 12-foot jump shot on the move and Towne netted two straight free throws to give North Medford a 53-47 lead with 1:17 left in the extra session. Kevin Foreman and Olson both made one of two free throws during the final minute to keep North's lead safe. "We lost intensity in the overtime," said Crater coach Matt Meunier. "They had it and we didn't. I thought we had it at the end of regulation, and we made some big plays to get it into overtime. "We're playing better, but we can't seem to make big plays when we need them. We turned the ball over once early in overtime, and they came down and made a shot (by Weyers) to go up by four points (51-47)." Foreman made two of four free throws to give North Medford a 45-43 lead with 2:22 left in the fourth quarter. But forward Brent Foster of the Comets made two straight free throws to tie the game at 45 with 1:22 to play. After Towne hit an 18-foot jump shot near the top of the key, Foster answered for the Comets with a layup with 43 seconds left. Each team turned the ball over once during the final 40 seconds. North Medford took over the ball with 2.2 seconds left. After a timeout, North went for a long pass just beyond midcourt to forward Tate Mellbye, who appeared to be bumped and fouled as he made the catch and stumbled. But there was no call and the game went to overtime. Foster and 6-7 center Andy Haas both scored 15 points to lead Crater. "I thought Brent (Foster) played real well and Haas finished well, " said Meunier. "But unfortunately, we couldn't get him the ball the way we wanted to at the end due to their perimeter pressure. They use their quickness on the perimeter to really harass you." Quilhaugh said North's defensive pressure led to its six unanswered points to start the overtime. "We got a couple good looks in the overtime and scored," he said. "That allowed us to relax and play. "I told the kids after the game that the conference is better than we were led to believe. We need to be ready for that in the second round." Mellbye, who entered the game averaging 11 rebounds a game, was limited to five. But he made several big defensive plays, scored five points and his rebounds were timely. "I try to be our leader on the floor even though I'm not vocal," said Mellbye. "I play hard and hope my teammates notice. "I'm not the biggest guy, but I try to muscle my way down there to get in position to rebound. When the ball goes up, I look at it as a pass and I try to go get it." CRATER (51) -- Wright 2, Peterson 5, Jones 6, Darnell 8, Norum 0, Foster 15, Pettigrew 0, Haas 15. Totals: 22 5-7 51. NORTH MEDFORD (55) -- Olson 16, Weyers 5, Oliver 0, Foreman 3, Mellbye 5, Towne 16, Jensen 4, O'Brien 4, Poulton 0, Schlichting 2, Clark 0, Folsom 0. Totals: 20 14-21 55. Crater ...........................10 13 10 14 4 -- 51 North Medford ..............12 14 10 11 8 -- 55 3-point goals -- North Medford 1 (Towne 1), Crater 2 (Foster 1, Peterson 1). Fouled out -- Jensen. JV score -- North Medford 64, Crater 54. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA