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47 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, February 26, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend February 7, 2004 Fast pace means quick work for South Medford By JOE ZAVALA for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND — No stalling. No contest. The Ashland High boys basketball team threw out its slowdown tactic in favor of a more conventional attack and, in the process, became South Medford's ninth straight Southern Oregon Conference boys basketball victim Friday. The second-ranked Panthers hit 10 of their first 13 shots and built a 29-point halftime lead on their way to a 90-44 blowout at Mountain Avenue gym. Advertisement South Medford senior guard Ryan Fiegi led all scorers with 20 points and had four assists, and senior post Craig Johnson added 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks as the Panthers (18-1, 9-0 SOC) remained a game ahead of second-place Roseburg. "I don't want to sound too arrogant here," Fiegi said, "but we knew we were going to win, it was just a matter of how much we were going to win by. We just had to come out and play hard, and we knew we were going to come out on top." The game played out in stark contrast to the last meeting between the two teams, when the Grizzlies (6-13, 2-7 SOC) played keep-away all night and held South to just eight points through the first 8½ minutes. The strategy sparked a midcourt shouting match between the competing coaches — South's Dennis Murphy and Ashland's Rick Cornelius — which added a bit of intrigue to the rematch. But all the action took place on the court this time, mostly at the expense of the youthful Grizzlies. Ashland, which has just two seniors, played straight up and South Medford responded by quickly putting the game out of reach. The Panthers led 25-9 after the first quarter, 42-13 at the half and 65-29 after three, eventually handing Ashland its most lopsided defeat of the season. "They have so much energy, they are so well-coached and so disciplined that they just simply overwhelmed us early," Cornelius said. "They are clearly the best team in the SOC." Murphy said he expected the stall, but was glad Ashland didn't go that route. "I understand why he stalled the first time," Murphy said, "but I think it also reaches a point where the plan didn't work — I've had many game plans that didn't work and I junked them — and you let kids play. Personally, I think my kids get better playing, even if I'm in that position." Junior forward Jeff Skinner, with 11 points, was the only Grizzly to score in double figures. He also had a team-high six boards. Grizz junior forward Corey Costantino added seven points and five rebounds, and junior forward Brian Kitchell chipped in five points and five rebounds. South used its superior size to dominate the paint from beginning to end, scoring nearly all its two-point makes from point-blank range. That opened up the outside, and the Panthers took advantage by hitting six 3-pointers — three by Fiegi. The Panthers shot a gaudy 60 percent for the game (32-for-53), while holding Ashland to 32 percent (14-for-44). "I like the way our kids played," Murphy said. "I thought we played hard tonight, we shot the ball better, which is something we hadn't done the last couple games, so it was real good for us. We're going to take this and definitely make it a positive." SOUTH MEDFORD (90) — Fiegi 20, B. Johnson 16, C. Johnson 14, Singler 9, Berkey 9, Hunter 7, Adams 6, Hagert 6, Heil 3, Weaver 0. Totals: 32 20-31 90. ASHLAND (44) — Skinner 11, McDermott 7, Costantino 6, Cornelius 6, Morris 4, Kitchell 3, Bishop 2, Littleton 2, Pittman 2, Eriksen 1, Aleccia 0. Totals: 14 14-21 44. South Medford 25 17 23 25 — 90 Ashland 9 4 16 15 — 44 3-point goals — South Medford 6 (Fiegi 3, Berkey 2, Adams 1), Ashland 2 (Kitchell 1, Skinner 1). Fouled out — Kitchell, Costantino, Bishop, Cornelius. JV score — South Medford 53, Ashland 44. Joe Zavala is sports editor of the Ashland Daily Tidings. 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