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North puts wraps on Reynolds Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli North Medford's Gabe Burchfiel, left, drives to the basket Thursday against Reynolds' Ryan Eoff in the opening round of the Abby's Holiday Classic. North Medford eked out a 62-60 triumph, its third win in a row, and meets Redmond at 6 tonight at South Medford High. Sophomore post Lucas, Weeks come up big as North Medford captures its third straight triumph By DON HUNT Mail Tribune Ryan Lucas finally found himself in the starting lineup for the North Medford High basketball team on Thursday night, and the 6-foot-2 sophomore post made the most of it. Lucas scored a game-high 20 points and Brian Weeks sank two critical free throws in the final 12.7 seconds to boost the Black Tornado to a 62-60 victory over Reynolds in an opening-round game of the Abby's Holiday Classic at North Medford. The victory was the third in a row for North, which meets Redmond in a winner's bracket semifinal game at 6 p.m. today at South Medford High. Redmond romped past Sheldon, 54-39, in Friday's earlier game at North. Lucas earned himself a spot in the Tornado lineup in the preseason but suffered a concussion in the team's jamboree and had to sit out the first three games. Then, a couple days prior to North Medford's 69-68 victory over Lebanon on Dec. 21, Lucas came down with the flu and missed another chance to start, although he did come off the bench and score 13 points. But he got his big opportunity Thursday, and showcased a variety of post moves to emerge as a go-to player for the Tornado. "That's one of the best games I've ever played," Lucas said. "They weren't a big team and that definitely helped, but I was able to pin my guy on the block and get some good looks." Lucas had 18 points through the first three periods and then drilled a 6-foot hook shot 29 seconds into the fourth period that broke a 46-46 tie and put North Medford ahead to stay. "It was great to see Ryan have a breakout game," said North Medford coach Tim Sam, whose team improved its record to 3-4. "We knew he was going to be a force for us at some point but then he got the concussion and that set him back." North Medford had chances to put Reynolds away in the final period, but the pesky Raiders wouldn't oblige. Baskets by Weeks and Gabe Burchfiel following Lucas' fourth-period goal gave the Tornado a 52-46 lead with 5:48 to play, and the hosts held a 60-55 advantage with 1:11 remaining when Burchfiel made a layup on a backdoor cut. But Reynold's David Jackson scored seven points in the final period, including two free throws with 18.9 seconds to play that cut the Tornado's lead to 60-58. Jackson, who had twice stolen the ball from Weeks in the final 30 seconds, punched it away a third time and was called for a foul after he and Weeks collided. Weeks went to the line and calmly drained two free throws that gave North Medford a 62-58 lead, a cushion it needed after the Raiders' Sean Hyatt drilled a 12-foot jumper with five seconds left. Reynolds had no timeouts left, and North Medford was able to run out the clock without inbounding the ball. "I was really mad at myself for turning the ball over, but I think that actually helped me at the free-throw line," said Weeks, who finished with 10 points and seven assists. "I just told myself, there's no way you're going to miss these. "I was short on a couple of earlier ones, but I made sure these two got over the rim." Reynolds coach Scott Baker was unhappy with the call that sent Weeks to the line - he thought Jackson was simply diving after a loose ball. "But give their kid credit - he made the free throws," Baker said. Jackson, a 5-9 senior guard, finished with 14 points to lead the Raiders and 5-8 junior guard Sammy Jannsen added 13. North Medford led 20-11 after one period but a rash of turnovers helped Reynolds crawl back to within 32-30 at the half. The game was close the rest of the way. "We'd build a lead, and give it up, and build a lead, and give it up," Weeks said. "That's kind of been the story of our season. "We need to be more consistent." REYNOLDS (59) - Jackson 14, Jannsen 13, Eoff 11, Demus 8, Hyatt 8, Oliver 3, Belt 2, O'Donnell 1, Holwege 0, McCoy 0. Totals: 23-54 7-11 59. NORTH MEDFORD (62) - Lucas 20, Burchfiel 14, Weeks 10, Taylor 7, Barlow 6, Rettmann 5, Poulton 0, Timmerman 0. Totals: 25-48 12-18 62. Reynolds................................................ 11 19 16 14 - 60 North Medford...................................... 20 12 14 16 - 62 3-point goals - Reynolds 7 (Jannsen 3, Eoff 1, Jackson 1, Hyatt 1, Oliver 1). REDMOND 54, SHELDON 39 - Sophomore Marty Leunen scored 15 points to lead Redmond to a first-round win over Sheldon of Eugene. Leunen, a 6-7 post, helped the Panthers (7-1) break open a tight game with a 14-7 run to close. Junior guard Chad Mart led Sheldon (2-3) with 12 points. SHELDON (39) - Mart 12, Perry 7, Best 5, Brown 4, Besaw 4, Kuhnhenn 2, Hinkle 2, Deffenbacher 2, Souder 1, Densmore 0. Totals: 14-42 8-14 39. REDMOND (54) - Leunen 15, Liedtke 8, Billings 8, Huston 7, Scurlock 6, Klontz 4, Herman 2, York 2, Wagenblast 2, Fladwood 0, Byer 0. Totals: 21-39 8-9 54. Sheldon.................................................13 6 13 7 - 39 Redmond.............................................18 10 12 14 - 54 3-point goals - Sheldon 3 (Mart 2, Perry 1), Redmond 4 (Scurlock 2, Huston 1, Billings 1). Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.