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42 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, January 20, 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 December 14, 2003 North Medford�s Ryan Lucas, left, looks for an open shot against Mountain View on Saturday. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Gridders play role in Tornado triumph Running, Herrera making smooth transition to the basketball court for North Medford By DON HUNT Mail Tribune It may be another week or two before the North Medford High football players round into basketball shape. But Black Tornado hoop coach Tim Sam is tickled to have them on the hardwood just the same. Junior guard/forward Ben Running and junior point guard Drew Herrera, just seven days removed from the Class 4A state championship football game, played significant roles in North Medford’s 77-63 nonconference victory over Mountain View Saturday in the North gym. Coupled with senior post Ryan Lucas’ typically productive outing, the Tornado was able to post its second victory in less than 24 hours and even its record at 2-3. Advertisement Lucas registered a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds, Running contributed 19 points, seven assists and four rebounds and Herrera added nine points, four assists and three steals to fuel the Tornado to victory. "The way the football kids (Running and Herrera) played today speaks to their talent," a smiling Sam said after the game. "And the good thing is, they’re not close to where they were last summer. "We saw glimpses today, but they’re going to get better." Lucas, who has blossomed into one of the better posts in the state, was thrilled to see Running and Herrera show up for basketball practice last Monday, just two days after the football season ended. "There was a big difference in the way we played when they joined the team," said Lucas, who hit 9 of 12 shots from the field and 10 of 13 from the free-throw line Saturday. "Right away, our execution improved by 50 percent." Another football player — junior guard Kyle Williamson — contributed two points in limited minutes. With Lucas scoring eight points in the game’s opening five minutes, North Medford catapulted to a quick 16-7 lead. The taller and more physical Tornado widened the gap to 39-26 at halftime and 61-44 after three periods, and eventually led by as many as 19 points in the fourth. But the visiting Cougars refused to collapse, and they took advantage of a noticeably fatigued Tornado in the late going. With North Medford missing five straight free throws and exacerbating its woes by committing an equal number of turnovers, Mountain View charged back and closed to within 65-57 on a pair of free throws by sophomore post Kyle Mayhew with 2:40 remaining in the game. The Cougars would have drawn even closer had a 3-point shot by Micah Johnson not rimmed out just seconds later. But Herrera hit two free throws at the other end with 2:09 left and Running added another point from the charity stripe 13 seconds later to quell the Cougars comeback. "I was really tired in the fourth quarter," admitted Running, who still was able to hit 5 of 7 shots from the field and 9 of 14 from the line. "For a while there, my legs were gone. "One more week and I’ll be in shape." Almost lost in the shadow of the Tornado’s big three was a solid performance off the bench by Kendall Gielow, a 6-6 sophomore. Gielow, who transferred to North Medford from Virginia last winter, contributed 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting from the field and added three rebounds. "You look at our team the last couple years and there wasn’t a lot of guys scoring a lot of points other than Ryan (Lucas)," Sam said. "Now we’ve got four or five guys besides Ryan who can hit in double figures. "It’s exciting." North Medford hit 25 of its 36 field-goal attempts — a sizzling 69 percent — and converted 24 of 37 free throws. "We had some opportunities in the fourth quarter, but when you get down to it, we had no answer for Lucas," Mountain View coach Craig Reid said. "He’s one of the best centers in the state." MOUNTAIN VIEW (63) — Haugen 20, Mayhew 13, Johnson 9, Milliron 8, Morris 6, Lee 4, Lang 3, Laszlo 0, Lodwick 0, Dawley 0, Collette 0, Currie 0. Totals: 20 18-25 63. NORTH MEDFORD (77) — Lucas 24, Ben Running 19, Kendall Gielow 12, Herrera 9, Schak 5, Berger 2, Williamson 2, Barry 2, Ryan 2. Totals 25-36 24-37 77. Mountain View......................... 13 13 18 19 — 63 North Medford..........................18 21 22 16 — 77 3-point goals — North Medford 2 (Herrera 1, Lucas 1). Fouled out — Mayhew, Ryan; Technical foul — Lodwick. JV score — North Medford 69, Mountain View 62. 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