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South, North eager to take the court By Tim Trower One of Oregon�s longest-standing boys basketball holiday tournaments unfolds this week at South and North Medford high schools. The 11th annual Medford Holiday Classic is comprised of eight teams and spans three days. The opening games are at 6 and 7:45 p.m. Thursday at each site. All of the action moves to South Medford on Friday and Saturday. South Medford, the defending champion and among the favorites again this year, opens play on its home floor in the late game Thursday against North Bend. The early contest pits Canby against Chico High of Chico, Calif. At North, the Black Tornado, coming off its lone victory, is host to Centennial of Portland in the second game. Play there opens with Sheldon of Eugene facing St. Mary�s of Albany, Calif. The two host schools have each won the tournament three times and have a combined record of 42-18. South, with a 22-8 record over 10 years, has been the runner-up four times. North, 20-10 in the event, has been second three times. South Medford (5-2) has gotten off to a strong start, losing only at Bend and in the championship game of the Red Bluff Daily News Holiday Classic in its last game on Dec. 16. The Panthers are nursing injuries and illness and welcomed the break between games. Eric Fiegi, a 6-foot-8 junior post, returned for the most recent game from a sprained ankle and scored 24 points in the 60-54 title loss to Pleasant Valley High of Chico, Calif. Though not 100 percent healthy then, his quick recovery was a good sign. Fiegi is averaging 21 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Also in the Red Bluff tournament, senior wing John McKay sprained an ankle and senior wing Craig Tomlins suffered a mild concussion. South coach Dennis Murphy expects his team to be close to full strength come tourney time, which could spell trouble for the rest of the field. "We�re about where I thought we might be," says Murphy, adding that the Panthers weren�t far off from beating both Bend and Pleasant Valley and entering this tourney unbeaten. "If a couple of things happened that should have happened, we could have won both those games. But they didn�t, and I�m surely not disappointed in being 5-2." With only the Holiday Classic left before the start of Southern Oregon Conference play next week, Murphy�s list of concerns has shrunk. He acknowledges the Panthers are still fairly inexperienced, with the exception of junior point guard Ryan Heil and McKay, and he�d like for McKay to shoot more. "It�s not a bad thing," he says, "but I�d like to get John McKay shooting more. A couple of games he�s stepped up and done that, and his all-around game is tremendous. He�s the type of kid who never complains if he scores or doesn�t score. We know we�re going to get scoring out of Heil and Fiegi; now we need John to be not quite so unselfish." A year ago, South claimed the Holiday Classic title in a thrilling championship game against McNary of Keizer. Heil made three free throws with no time showing on the clock in regulation to force overtime, then the Panthers pulled out a 56-51 triumph. This year, Heil is averaging 16.6 points and 5.3 assists per game. South could well meet Chico, also nicknamed the Panthers, in the semifinals. The California team ran its record to 9-3 when it placed third in the Anderson, Calif., Tournament Dec. 16. Chico is the chief rival of the same Pleasant Valley team that defeated South that same night. "Historically," says Murphy, "those two teams play for their league�s championship." On the other half of the bracket, North Medford must get by a veteran Centennial team � it is 3-3 and has four starters back from last year � in the first round. The Black Tornado (1-5) has had only one game since welcoming four football players from the state runner-up team. In that contest, it downed Lebanon, 57-53. "The more games the better right now," says North coach Gene Quilhaugh of the three games in three days his team will play this week. "We�re starting to get our basketball legs." Point guards Mike Olson and Brian Weeks have made a smooth entry into the Tornado�s eight-man rotation. "The transition time from football to point guard or to a ball-handling guard has taken a month, month-and-a-half in other situations I�ve coached in," says Quilhaugh. "They�re way ahead of that." While North was thin in the early going, several players gained valuable playing time and made prominent contributions. Gabe Burchfiel is averaging 14 points and 11 rebounds, Ben Anderson 12 points, five rebounds and 2.5 steals and Thomas O�Brien 10 points and three rebounds. Quilhaugh, whose team was seventh in the Holiday Classic last year, is eager for some games so he can evaluate the progress of his new-look team. "From what I see in practice," he says, "they�re working very hard on the running game and full-court defense. In scrimmage situations, we�re passing the ball very well to the open man � sometimes to a fault. Sometimes we�re making one more pass when it would be appropriate to take a shot. But that�s not a bad thing to have." Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.