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CLOUDY Temp: 39 °F Wind: SSE at 4 mph Wednesday, April 2, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend March 14, 2003 Grants Pass overcomes deficit to stun Lincoln By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune PORTLAND — Second-ranked Lincoln forgot that there are four quarters to a basketball game, and Grants Pass gave the Cardinals all offseason to learn that lesson in one of the biggest comebacks of the Class 4A state boys basketball tournament. Spurred by the all-out play of senior Kory Mahr, Grants Pass shrugged off a 17-point, third-quarter deficit to stun the Cardinals, 68-67, in Thursday’s consolation opener at Memorial Coliseum. Mahr capped off an improbable finish when he won a scramble for a loose ball and was fouled attempting a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds to play. The 6-foot-6 center calmly converted his first two free throws to give the Cavemen (21-6) their first lead of the game since it was 8-5 four minutes into the contest. He intentionally missed his third attempt and Lincoln (20-6) was unable to get off a shot as time expired, along with the season for the Portland Interscholastic League champions, who played without injured star point guard Omar Leary. "We’re a young team and, unfortunately, we don’t realize when we have the other team on the ropes and we don’t take the air out of our opponent," said Lincoln coach Troy Berry, whose team was the tournament favorite but wasted second-half leads in both of its state losses. "Hopefully this will be a tremendous lesson for our kids." Mahr provided the ultimate lesson for Lincoln players wanting to learn how to close out a basketball game. The Southern Oregon Conference player of the year scored 13 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter, and added 11 rebounds, five blocked shots and three assists in practically willing the Cavemen to victory. "As good of a basketball player as he is, he’s a better competitor," said GP coach Bill Cowell. "He wouldn’t let us lose." No matter the price, Mahr said he was willing to pay it. "If the team needed me I was just going to put them on my back and carry them as far as I could," he said. "I didn’t want my last game to be something where I walked off the court leaving something else out there." The Cavemen, the No. 2 seed out of the SOC, next face South Salem at 10:30 a.m. today for the right to advance into Saturday’s fifth-place final. South Salem beat Sunset 59-46 in Thursday’s other consolation tilt. Grants Pass’ fate appeared all but assured in the first half as Lincoln torched the nets by going 14-for-30 from the field (46.7 percent) and 7-for-12 from 3-point range (58.3 percent). The Cardinals used a 17-5 run to break the game open in the first quarter, then staved off a GP rally in the second to take a 40-27 halftime advantage. "We tried two zones and a box-and-one (defense) in the first half and it didn’t matter," said Cowell. "They were just shooting the ball right over us." A switch to man-to-man defense helped slow Lincoln, which was led by Neal Zumwalt’s 23 points, just as the Cavemen started finding the range on offense. After building a 47-30 lead, the Cardinals could only watch in amazement as Grants Pass went on an 18-7 run to close out the third. The final frame belonged to Mahr, who scored GP’s first 11 points of the quarter and seemed to intimidate the shell-shocked Cardinals. "We told our players we wanted to make sure they forced him to his left, and he beat us to his right," Berry said of Mahr. "We didn’t do a good job of taking away his strong hand and got burned by it." But as good as Mahr was, he couldn’t do it alone and found a couple willing participants to step up in Mark Heater and Ryan Davidson. Heater drilled a 3-pointer — his only field goal in six attempts — with two minutes to play to pull GP closer at 63-62. Trailing 67-63, Heater then found Davidson open in the corner for another 3-pointer with 16.8 seconds to play. "We didn’t get very many 3’s, but those two down the stretch were very big," Cowell said of his team’s 4-for-13 outing from beyond the arc. The Cavemen immediately fouled Lincoln sophomore Alijuah Hale, who missed the front end of a one-and-one but was saved when sophomore teammate LaTravis Turner got the rebound and was fouled going back up at the basket. Turner missed both attempts, but Lincoln senior Danny Novick came away with the second missed free throw, only to have it ripped from his hands by Davidson. After a Grants Pass timeout with 8.7 seconds to play, Davidson found his number called again on the inbounds play as he streaked upcourt and barely hauled in the long pass at the 3-point line. Davidson then turned to find junior Tom Higgins, but his pass was deflected and the ball knocked around on the court until Mahr came along to seal the game. "It really just shows the character and heart of this team," said Mahr. "To have such high aspirations as we had coming into this tournament and having them killed the first round was tough. But we didn’t want to go out like that. We just want to keep playing basketball. "We just tried to keep believing in ourselves and that what we were doing was going to get us there, and it did." GRANTS PASS (21-6) — Heater 1-6 0-0 3, R. Davidson 5-6 0-0 12, Mahr 10-14 10-16 30, Cowell 2-5 1-1 5, Pollock 1-3 2-4 4, Higgins 2-6 0-0 5, Mace 0-0 0-0 0, Dastrup 2-6 2-4 6, Chamberlain 0-0 0-0 0, Lathen 1-2 1-2 3. Totals: 24-48 16-27 68. LINCOLN (20-6) — Turner 6-9 0-2 12, Zumwalt 7-17 4-4 23, Baird 0-1 1-2 1, Novick 0-1 0-0 0, Hale 2-4 4-5 8, Jenkins 0-1 0-0 0, Robinowitz 4-10 4-4 15, Hodges 2-3 0-0 6, Young 0-0 0-0 0, Cowden 0-0 0-0 0, Hallberg 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 22-47 13-17 67. Grants Pass...............................13 14 21 20 — 68 Lincoln.......................................25 15 14 13 — 67 3-point goals — Grants Pass 4-13 (Heater 1-4, R. Davidson 2-2, Pollock 0-1, Higgins 1-4, Dastrup 0-2), Lincoln 10-17 (Zumwalt 5-7, Novick 0-1, Jenkins 0-1, Robinowitz 3-6, Hodges 2-2). Rebounds — Grants Pass 28 (Mahr 11), Lincoln 25 (Turner 7). Assists — Grants Pass 16 (Heater 5), Lincoln 18 (Hodges 5). Personal fouls — Grants Pass 17, Lincoln 22. Fouled out — Pollock, Baird. Technical fouls — Grants Pass coach Cowell. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S