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Poulton powers Tornado to third By Greg Stiles Travis Poulton picked a good night for a breakout performance. The 6-foot-4 junior post punctuated a career-high 23-point effort Saturday with the winning free throw with 4.6 seconds left as the Black Tornado defeated Canby, 58-57, for third place in the Abby�s Holiday Classic at the South Medford gym. "I call it a breakout game in one respect because Travis is gaining the respect of his teammates," North coach Gene Quilhaugh said. "I kept calling plays for him. He was having a hell of a night, and they were allowing him to continue." The win was the third in four games for North Medford and gave the Tornado a 3-6 record heading into Tuesday�s Southern Oregon Conference opener against Ashland. More importantly, North snapped back from Friday�s humbling, 80-57 loss to St. Mary�s of Berkeley, Calif. "It was a huge deal," Poulton said. "Friday night�s loss crushed us, but we came back in here and got third place." But third place didn�t come easily. Canby erased an eight-point deficit in the final 4:43 and tied it, 57-57, on a pair of free throws by Jese Kirsch with 14 seconds to play. When the Cougars (2-7) tried to trap North�s Mike Olson in the corner, he threaded a pass to a wide-open Poulton. Canby�s Tyler Stewart hammered Poulton to prevent a layin. "My guy jumped Olson, trying to trap him in the corner, and he made a great pass through the defense," Poulton said. Poulton�s first free throw clanked off the back rim, but the second was true. "I haven�t been doing too good with my free throws," Poulton said. "My dad said I should count backwards from 100. I just relaxed and made it." Still, considering the Cougars had nailed five 3-pointers, there was time enough to spoil North�s ending. But Kevin Foreman intercepted a three-quarters court pass to seal the victory. "They didn�t have much time, so I knew they�d probably go deep," Foreman said. "I was just trying to beat the guy to the ball." It was a game in which the Tornado rarely trailed, but could never shake free from the Cougars. North scored the first six points but led just 12-11 after one quarter on a buzzer-beating drive by Brian Weeks. After Canby scored six straight points to edge ahead, 26-24, with 54 seconds left in the half, Poulton hit a 6-footer from the lane to tie it at the half. Not only was the score tied at the intermission, but nearly everything was even. North was 11 of 20 from the field. Canby was 11 of 21. North had a slim 14-12 edge on the backboards and both clubs had seven turnovers. North wound up 26 of 47 (.553) from the field and Canby 20 of 39 (.513). The Tornado built a 36-28 advantage three minutes into the third period, but Brandon Brown�s 3-pointer and Buck Stone�s inside move pulled Canby within 45-42 heading into the fourth quarter. "Our concern was whether we could handle a physical team," Canby coach Dennis Burke said. "We did a good job except when they got four or five offensive rebounds in the last five minutes of the game." Five players got in the act as North went on a 10-3 run to start the fourth period. Thomas O�Brien�s steal and layin made it 55-47 with five minutes to play. "We got up eight points a couple of times," Poulton said. "But we couldn�t get away from them. We didn�t execute when we needed to." CANBY (57) � Kirsch 4, Stewart 9, Brown 9, Warren 8, Stone 11, Ricksger 5, Miller 5, Yoder 6. Totals: 20-39 12-17 57. NORTH MEDFORD (58) � Olson 13, Weeks 2, Poulton 23, Foreman 4, Anderson 8, Taylor 0, Buchfiel 6, O�Brien 2, Wessells 0. Totals: 26-47 5-8 58. Canby....................................................11 15 16 15 � 57 North Medford.......................................12 14 19 13 � 58 3-point goals: Canby 5 (Warren 2, Brown 2, Stone 1). North Medford 1 (Olson 1). 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 � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.