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51 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, April 13, 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 March 14, 2004 South Medford�s Ryan Fiegi, right, shoots over Oregon City�s AJ Niebergall at the end of the second overtime. Fiegi�s shot was short forcing a third OT. South outlasts Oregon City Panthers conclude season with a fourth-place trophy after thrilling victory over Pioneers in four overtimes By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune EUGENE — If at first you don’t succeed, try again ... and again ... and again ... and again. Top-ranked South Medford put an exclamation point to its season Saturday as the Panthers outlasted Oregon City, 74-69, in four overtimes to claim fourth place at the Class 4A boys basketball state championship. The marathon contest was only the third quadruple overtime game in tournament history — and first in South’s school history — and allowed the Panthers to walk away from McArthur Court with their heads held high. "What a great way to go out: having fun and getting a win," said South wing Andy Hagert, one of six Panther seniors. "I love these guys, they’re like my family." Advertisement South capped its season with a school-record 27 wins to offset only two losses, one to nationally ranked El Camino of Oceanside, Calif., and the other Thursday to reigning 4A champion Redmond, which lost to South Salem, 54-43, in Saturday’s championship finals. "We definitely have nothing to hang our heads about," said South senior point guard Ryan Fiegi, whose two pure free throws with 16.3 seconds left in the fourth OT sealed the win. "We didn’t get the goal, but we definitely will settle for this." South senior post Craig Johnson powered in 27 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, while senior guard Caleb Berkey had 15 points, freshman Kyle Singler had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Fiegi finished with eight points, seven assists, five rebounds, four steals and won all five tips. "Different players kept stepping up and that’s what you have to do to win big games," said Johnson, who was named to the all-tournament team. After sleep-walking through the opening three quarters, South played with a sense of urgency in the fourth to tie the game at 48-all with 1:42 to play on an inside basket by Singler. Oregon City (23-6) worked all but 11.4 seconds off the clock before calling a timeout. The Three Rivers League champions then worked the ball around to set up a potential game-winner, but were thwarted when Brady Strutz was whistled for a traveling violation on a great defensive switch by Singler. South set up a last-second effort by Berkey in the left corner, but his shot found only rim and set in motion what would become one of the most intense nail-biters in state tournament history. Johnson scored South’s six points in the first four-minute overtime, but a free throw by AJ Niebergall tied the game at 54-all with 27.7 seconds to go. The Panthers once again went to the corner well, this time with junior Isaiah Adams, but had that shot fall off and a follow-up tip by Fiegi also miss its mark. Oregon City managed a 58-56 lead on South inside the final minute of the second OT, and might have been able to squeeze out a win had Hagert not come swooping in to dislodge a rebound from the Pioneers following a Fiegi miss in the corner. The ball caromed back to Adams, who misfired on a 3-pointer a few seconds later. Johnson hauled in that rebound, and was fouled going back up with a shot with 3.4 seconds to go. Oregon City head coach Mike Doherty called a timeout to ice the 6-4 post to no avail as Johnson re-toed the line and dropped in two free throws to tie the game at 58-all. "I think angels just dropped those in the basket because it was nothing I was doing," Johnson said of the clutch shots. "I knew I didn’t want to end my season like that by missing a free throw, so I just did the best I could. With all that pressure, I couldn’t be happier to end my season like that." Two free throws by Niebergall put Oregon City ahead 63-60 in the third overtime, but a rebound basket by Hagert off a Singler miss revived South’s hopes with 26 seconds to go. Singler fouled out trying to deny OC’s Daniel Colarchik with 19.2 seconds on the clock, but the senior made only one of two attempts at the line to leave the door open. Johnson sliced inside for another basket with eight seconds to play to tie the game at 64-all, and Rocky Pedden’s last-gasp shot came up empty for the Pioneers. Heading into the fourth overtime, South regrouped for the final time. "It went back and forth in the overtimes and we got in the huddle for the final overtime and said, ‘Let’s end it right now,’" said Fiegi. "It was just a mental thing where we all agreed, ‘This is enough.’" After missing a 3-pointer to open the fourth OT, Berkey stood poised over his second attempt a minute later and tickled the twine to give South a 67-64 lead it never relinquished. Pedden’s two free throws made it 67-66, but Johnson rebounded his own miss for a basket moments later. Niebergall made only one of two free throws with 55.8 seconds to go to cut OC’s deficit to 69-67. One Adams free throw pushed the cushion back to three points, but Niebergall made two more with 17.4 seconds to play to set the stage for Fiegi’s final two charity shots. A missed 3-pointer by Niebergall was rebounded by Johnson, who added a free throw to push the lead to four and Adams added another free throw for the final 74-69 margin. "We’re bummed but deep down you’ve got to have a good feeling inside because we played our hardest," said Pedden, who led Oregon City with 19 points. The Pioneers, who finished sixth, certainly earned the respect of South’s sideline. "They’re hard workers and don’t give up at all," said Hagert. "This was their second game in overtime and they never quit and won’t ever die. They’ve got a great coach and are great competitors." As are the Panthers, who never really had their coach worried Saturday. "It’s funny but I guess I never thought we were going to lose," said Murphy. "As a coach, I guess you just don’t. Especially when you have kids like we have." OREGON CITY (23-6) Niebergall 4-9 6-8 15, Strutz 3-9 3-4 10, Rigdon 4-8 0-1 11, Colarchik 5-10 1-3 14, Pedden 6-15 5-5 19, Henricksen 0-0 0-0 0, Gravel 0-0 0-0 0, Wells 0-0 0-0 0, Richter 0-1 0-0 0, Carver 0-0 0-0 0, Perkins 0-1 0-0 0, Owens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-53 15-21 69. SOUTH MEDFORD (27-2) Fiegi 1-5 6-7 8, Berkey 4-9 4-4 15, Hagert 3-8 0-0 6, C. Johnson 8-18 11-16 27, Singler 6-13 1-4 13, Heil 0-0 0-0 0, Sabori 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 1-5 2-4 5, Hunter 0-1 0-0 0, Weaver 0-0 0-0 0, B. Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-59 24-35 74. Oregon City.....................14 13 17 4 6 4 6 5 — 69 South Medford..............10 15 15 8 6 4 6 10 — 74 3-point goals — Oregon City 10-23 (Niebergall 1-4, Strutz 1-3, Rigdon 3-6, Colarchik 3-5, Pedden 2-4, Richter 0-1), South Medford 4-13 (Berkey 3-8, Hagert 0-1, Singler 0-1, Adams 1-3). Rebounds — Oregon City 30 (Colarchik 6), South Medford 42 (C. Johnson 11, Singler 11). Assists — Oregon City 17 (Niebergall 8), South Medford 14 (Fiegi 7). Personal fouls — Oregon City 23, South Medford 19. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! 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