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Jesuit squeaks past South By Greg Stiles PORTLAND � People don�t remember the near misses, the could�ve, would�ve, should�ve games. That�s too bad. The South Medford Panthers did just about everything possible to knock off Metro League champion Jesuit Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament. The second-place Southern Oregon Conference team looked for all the world better than a No. 13 seed against a squad seeded No. 4. The Panthers overcame 10-point, first-quarter deficit to tie the Crusaders at the half. They rallied again in the fourth quarter and even had a chance to win it in regulation. Ultimately, overtime proved a mogul too high for South as Jesuit eked out a 58-56 victory. "You want to come in and be competitive when you�re here," South Medford coach Andrea Wegner said. "And we stepped up and played a great game." It would�ve been the most significant win in school history and the first for the Panthers at the state tournament. Instead, South meets Lincoln, a 50-37 loser to Lake Oswego, at 9 a.m. this morning. Jesuit (22-3) plays Lake Oswego (22-3) this afternoon in quarterfinal action. The Panthers (16-8) shot well, fought to a 37-37 stalemate on the backboards and had three fewer turnovers. But after shooting 70 percent from the foul line this season, South connected on just 10 of 19 free throws. Even though South nailed 6 of 10 3-pointers, they couldn�t overcome the trey Kelly Turner bombed in from the top of the key with 2:40 left in overtime. "That gave us a lift," acknowledged Turner. "We weren�t doing a good job of penetrating and getting inside." Over the next two minutes, Whitney Grant couldn�t get the front end of a one-and-one to drop, Kellie Thomas put up two free throws that wouldn�t go and the Crusaders managed to stretch their lead to 58-53 by swishing 2 of 4 free throws. So when Grant splashed a 3-pointer at the horn, it was moot. "We should be pleased we did what we did against them, they got first place in the Metro," Grant said. "(Turner�s) shot was big, but we weren�t hanging our heads. There was still plenty of time and we got open looks." The Panthers made good use of what little time that was left when they rallied from a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit. Jesuit�s Jessica Kocarnik snared a rebound and got fouled going back up and sank both free throws to give the Crusaders a 47-38 spread with 7:05 left in regulation. But Grant drove for two points and then stole the ball to set up a putback by Emily Perttu. Turner swished a 3-pointer to make it 50-42, but Thomas answered back with a 12-footer, got fouled and then converted for a three-point play. A Perttu free throw made it 50-46. After Asha Wilkerson connected on an 8-footer, Thomas penetrated the lane and converted another three-point play. Thomas and Wilkerson traded free throws then Thomas drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing to tie it, 53-53. "We were talking about how we had to defend their guards," Jesuit coach Kathy Adelman Naro said. "We�d run out on their guards, let them go by and then foul them." South had two shots in the final minute of regulation, but neither Beth Mueller nor Grant could score. "Down the stretch, Kellie made some big baskets and Karla Zenz had some huge rebounds," Wegner said. "That�s just what you would expect from your senior leaders." Thomas scored 24 points, sinking 9 of 17 shots from the field, including 3 of 6 from behind the 3-point arc. Grant finished with 18 points, dropping in 6 of 15 attempts from the field and was 3 of 4 from 3-point range. Perttu added 11 points, while Zenz yanked down 15 rebounds. Turner topped Jesuit with 14 points, Kocarnik added 11, while Courtney Fritz and Rachel Knox finished with 10 each. "We made it this far, and it�s just awesome," Thomas said. "We played our hearts out right to the buzzer." The Panthers showed a lot of heart battling back from a 15-5 first period deficit after Grant picked up two quick fouls. She returned in the second quarter, scoring eight of South�s 21 points as the Panthers tied it at 28-28 on Thomas� putback. SOUTH MEDFORD (56) � Perttu 11, Grant 18, Thomas 24, Mueller 1, Zenz 2, Wright 0, McHenry 0. Totals: 20-47 10-19 56. JESUIT (58) � DiLorenzo 4, Helgerson 0, Wilkerson 5, Fritz 10, Knox 10, Kocarnik 11, Dickinson 0, Turner 14, Nilson 4. Totals: 21-59 11-19 58. South Medford......................................7 21 10 15 3 � 56 Jesuit...................................................15 13 15 10 5 � 58 3-point goals � South Medford 6-10 (Grant 3, Thomas 3), Jesuit 5-16 (Fritz 2, Turner 3). Reach reporter Greg Stiles 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.