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Grants Pass stays alive Cavemen topple Thurston, will play Churchill today for fourth place By DON HUNT PORTLAND - With little to lose and a trophy to gain, the Grants Pass Cavemen played perhaps their best game of the season during a consolation semifinal game at the boys basketball Class 4A state tournament Friday afternoon. The Cavemen were confident, relaxed and efficient, while the Thurston Colts looked like a team that hadn't recovered from a heartbreaking, last-second loss to Westview in the championship quarterfinals 18 hours earlier. The result was a 60-37 victory for the 14th-seeded Cavemen over the second-seeded Colts at Memorial Coliseum. Grants Pass, which stunned No. 3 seed Jefferson in the opening round before suffering a three-point loss to No. 6 seed Tigard in the quarterfinals, meets Churchill of Eugene in the fourth-place game at 2 p.m. today. "We came out today playing loose and having fun," Grants Pass senior forward Brant Minor said. "And now we're playing for a nice trophy on Saturday for the second year in a row. "That's an amazing feat for our program." Senior point guard Tyler York led four Cavemen in double figures with 16 points. Minor and senior post Kory Mahr added 12 points each, and senior guard Tom Cohen had 11 as Grants Pass improved its season record to 23-5. The Cavemen shot 50 percent from the field (19 of 38), 81 percent from the free-throw line (17 of 21), committed only 10 turnovers and out-rebounded the taller Colts by a 29-25 margin. Now that's efficient. But the key to the win was a Caveman zone defense that limited Thurston star Shea Washington to a season-low four points. The 6-foot-6 Washington, who is headed to Montana State on a basketball scholarship, made just 2 of 7 shots from the field in 30 minutes of play as Mahr, Minor and reserve post Bart Baily did a nice job of clogging the middle. "I really didn't do anything special - I just played behind him (Washington) and waited for our guards to double down on him," said Mahr, a 6-5 senior who is having an outstanding tournament. "We played good team defense on their big guys and just hoped their outside shooters wouldn't get on a roll." They didn't. The Colts made just 3 of 17 shots from the 3-point line and wound up shooting an icy 32.6 percent from the field. Jay Mayernik, a 6-5 junior post, paced the Colts with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Thurston managed to lead 11-10 after one period, but York and Cohen buried 3-point baskets over the first 1 minute, 24 seconds of the second period to give the Cavemen the lead for good. Grants Pass led 27-18 at halftime, and any hope of a Thurston comeback was seriously crippled when York drilled a 3 and Minor followed with a 3-point play that hiked the Cavemen's advantage to 35-20 at the 5:50 mark of the third quarter. "We took it to 'em the first couple minutes of the second half, and we pretty much rolled after that," said York, who had four assists to accompany his game-high 16 points. The Midwestern League champion Colts, who were ranked among the top three teams in the state for most of the season, finished with a 22-5 record. The Cavemen were hoping to meet Southern Oregon Conference rival South Medford in today's fourth-place game, but the Panthers lost to Churchill in an earlier consolation game Thursday. Churchill defeated Grants Pass during a semifinal matchup last season on its way to the state championship. GRANTS PASS (60) - York 4-10 6-7 16, Mahr 4-5 4-4 12, Minor 5-13 2-4 12, Cohen 4-6 3-4 11, Voges 1-2 1-2 3, Baily 0-0 2-2 2, Draper 0-0 0-0 0, LaLonde 0-2 2-2 2, Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Cameron 0-0 0-0 0, Mathews 0-1 0-0 0, Heater 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-38 17-21 60. THURSTON (37) - Mayernick 6-9 3-5 15, Farley 2-7 0-0 5, Washington 2-7 0-1 4, Orton 0-4 1-2 1, Keeling 2-5 0-0 5, Loder 1-3 0-0 2, Olsen 1-6 0-0 3, Sarkez 0-1 0-0 0, Coe 0-0 2-4 2, Green 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 14-43 6-12 37. Grants Pass...........................................10 17 17 16 - 60 Thurston....................................................11 7 9 10 - 37 3-point goals-Grants Pass 5-12 (Cohen 3-4, York 2-7, Mathews 0-1), Thurston 3-17 (Farley 1-6, Orton 0-2, Kelling 1-2, Olsen 1-6, Green 0-1). Rebounds-Grants Pass 29 (Minor 8), Thurston 25 (Washington 5). Assists-Grants Pass 10 (Mahr 3), Thurston 8 (Farley 3, Orton 3). Turnovers-Grants Pass 10, Thurston 11. Total fouls-Grants Pass 12, Thurston 20; Fouled out - None. 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.