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South gets the top seed at state MT file photo South Medford's Ryan Heil and the Panthers will be tested early by Benson Tech, the runner-up in last year's Class 4A state tournament. The Panthers will open with No. 16 seed Benson Tech, Tuesday at 8:45 p.m. at the Class 4A tournament in Portland By DON HUNT Mail Tribune Now that they've got the respect from the seeding committee and the attention of basketball observers around the state, the South Medford Panthers are eager to pursue their ultimate objective - a state championship. In somewhat of a surprise announcement, the Panthers were handed the No. 1 seed by the Class 4A state basketball seeding committee on Sunday and were immediately paired against Benson Tech, the 16th seed, in an opening-round game at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday at Portland's Memorial Coliseum. Grants Pass, meanwhile, wasn't so lucky. The Cavemen drew Portland Interscholastic League champion Jefferson in their tournament opener that is set for 3 p.m. Wednesday. South Medford, the Southern Oregon Conference champion which heads into the tournament with a 23-1 record and an 18-game win streak, was expecting the No. 2 or 3 seed. But the Panthers' imposing record that includes victories over four tournament teams - Mountain View, Redmond, Lake Oswego and Grants Pass - obviously carried some weight. "It's a sign of respect and a great feeling," South Medford senior forward Alan Johnson said of the No. 1 seeding. "Now, hopefully, we can go up there and play to our potential." Added senior point guard Ryan Heil: "Now we've got a little bit of a target on our backs but that's OK, we had one on our backs all year in our conference and we handled it well. If this means we're going to get everyone's best shot then hopefully we can beat everyone, anyway." If the Panthers' No. 1 seeding was a bit of a surprise, so was Benson's No. 16 seeding. The Techmen (19-8) may have lost some of their best players off last season's squad that finished runner-up to Churchill at the tournament, but they own a win over fourth-seeded Jesuit and they had to win three road games in the subtournament to reach the final 16. Benson lost its best player, 6-foot-3, 215-pound Drew Dukeshire to a broken foot during the Les Schwab Tournament in December. Dukeshire was the PIL's defensive player of the year in football and is headed to Weber State on a football scholarship. But the Techmen still have 6-8 center J.R. Moore and several capable perimeter players, including senior wing Bruce Jones and sophomore point guard Deshawn McKenzie. "Dukeshire was probably our only Division I player," says Benson coach Don Emry, whose team beat Reynolds (48-47), Willamette (48-31) and Silverton (63-37) to reach the final 16. "He was a big, strong, athletic kid who could take it to the hoop and hit the 3. But our younger kids have come around." In his 12 seasons at Benson, Emry has guided the Techmen to nine tournament appearances and walked off with six trophies - two seconds, two thirds, a fourth and a fifth. Benson reached the final 16 last season by beating South Medford, 77-56, in a subtournament game. The two squads also met twice last summer, once at Sunset High School and once at the University of Oregon team camp, with South Medford winning both times. "I don't think they're as good as they were last year but that doesn't mean they're a bad team," South Medford coach Dennis Murphy says of the Techmen. "They've got the big kid (Moore) who can block shots and you've always got to deal with the quickness factor when you play them. They're quicker than most of the teams we've played." South Medford will lean on Heil, senior post Eric Fiegi and a smothering defense that has held 18 of its 24 opponents to 49 points or less. Fiegi is averaging 20.7 points per game and Heil 16.7. Junior post Boomer Marshall and senior wings Johnson and Adam Walport will join Fiegi and Heil in the starting lineup. "We've said all along that we've got two great players and a bunch of other kids who needed to step up, and they have," Murphy says. Grants Pass coach Bill Cowell was a bit miffed that his team drew the 14th seed and a first-round matchup against third-seeded Jefferson. The Cavemen own a 21-4 record with two of their losses - one by three points, the other by 12 - to South Medford. "It just doesn't make sense that if South is No. 1 then we're No. 14," Cowell says. "But if you're going to do well up there you've got to beat some good teams and obviously we've got a good one right off the bat." Jefferson is fueled by senior Brandon Lincoln, a 6-4 point guard who is headed to Oregon on a scholarship, and wings Curtis Lincoln, his 6-foot senior cousin, and 6-4 junior Thomas Gardner, who is also considered a Division I prospect. The Democrats romped past Grants Pass, 84-60, in the tournament's third-place game last season. The two best players off that team - guards Aaron Miles and Michael Lee - got scholarships to Kansas. 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.