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Click Here 46 °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 January 17, 2004 South Medford�s Ryan Fiegi goes up for a layup in Friday�s game against Crater. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Little satisfaction for South in rout Panthers win their 34th straight home game with a runaway victory over Crater By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune Not that the South Medford boys basketball team would trade the outcome in its 95-31 rout over North Medford two weeks ago, but that showing has become more of a curse than a blessing for the second-ranked Panthers. Ever since then, South either has had to face teams guarding against a 64-point loss or live up to its own lofty expectations . The latter held true Friday night as the Panthers overcame a solid effort by Crater to post a 69-48 victory, but didn’t walk away with the kind of satisfaction typically reserved for such a triumph. "We just set the bar so high with that North win that people are going to be disappointed with anything less," said South senior point guard Ryan Fiegi, who scored a game-high 19 points and added four assists. And that may be too much of a load to shoulder. Advertisement "If people think we’re going to go out and play like we did against North Medford in the tournament, that’s probably not fair," said South head coach Dennis Murphy. "We’re going to beat anybody if we play like we did that night. That was a great effort, but you’re not going to go out and do that every single night. ... That’s just not going to happen." Especially when the Panthers (13-1, 4-0 SOC), who notched their 34th straight home victory, face the kind of foe they did Friday. The Comets (4-10, 1-3) worked tirelessly on both ends of the court, showing patience on offense and determination on defense despite falling behind 36-17 at halftime and 42-17 inside two minutes of the third quarter. "We played with a lot of heart tonight," said seventh-year Crater head coach Matt Meunier. "We got down by 20, and South has a team that can put the screws to people and extend that to 30 or 40. But our kids played with a lot of heart and kept it around 20, and we continued to make basketball plays against them. I was really proud of our kids." Senior forward Jay Slezak drilled four 3-pointers en route to a team-high 18 points for Crater, which connected on 45 percent (19-for-42) of its shots compared to 46 percent (24-for-52) by South. "Crater played real hard and executed well," said Murphy. "They got the ball in the hands of their shooter (Slezak), and he made the shots. I tip my hat to them; they played real well." The Panthers certainly didn’t play poorly — forcing 19 turnovers and limiting Crater to 27 points through three periods — they just didn’t have the same step in their stride Murphy and company have been accustomed to thus far. "For whatever reason, we’ve kind of plateaued," said the 16th-year South coach. "At some point, we’ve got to find the answer to that. We’ve got shooting woes, and we need to figure out answers to that." Senior Panther post Craig Johnson muscled inside for 15 points and freshman Kyle Singler added 10 points and 11 rebounds, but outside baskets were practically non-existent save three 3-pointers off the bench by junior Isaiah Adams. Credit some of that to the Comets, who were doing all they could to make things difficult for South. "We’re definitely improving," said Meunier. "One area especially is we’re playing with more effort and more passion. That’s something we can control, and I was pleased to see us come out like that." With Tuesday serving as an off night in the SOC, both teams stand to benefit from a full week to prepare for their next opponent. "We’re a little disappointed, but it’s also a win so you can’t be too disappointed," Fiegi said in summing up the Panthers’ post-game mood. "I’m not sure what’s going on right now, but we had a little talk in the locker room after the game and we should be all right. We have all week next week to practice, so we’ll work on a few things and get better." CRATER (48) — Slezak 18, Wiersma 9, Pierce 6, King 5, Herbold 3, Wilkerson 3, Tate 2, Seegmiller 2, Hartzer 0, Robertson 0, Biskeborn 0, Wasniewski 0. Totals: 19-42 3-4 48. SOUTH MEDFORD (69) — Fiegi 19, C. Johnson 15, Singler 10, Adams 9, B. Johnson 4, Berkey 3, Sabori 3, Hagert 2, Hunter 2, Heil 2, Weaver 0. Totals: 24-52 16-22 69. Crater.........................................5 12 10 21 — 48 South Medford.........................14 22 12 21 — 69 3-point goals — Crater 7 (Slezak 4, Wiersma 1, Herbold 1, King 1), South Medford 5 (Adams 3, Berkey 1, Sabori 1). Fouled out — Pierce. JV score — South Medford 64, Crater 43. 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. 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