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SUNNY Temp: 52 °F Wind: NNW at 3 mph Wednesday, February 5, 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 February 5, 2003 Mellbye catapults North girls past South By KEVIN GOFF Mail Tribune The game plan was simple, albeit a little contradictory. Be patient and get Kerstin Mellbye the ball in the post and run until you drop. The North Medford High girls basketball team met somewhere in the middle on Tuesday. Mellbye touched the ball plenty, burning South Medford for 24 points and the Black Tornado (12-7, 7-2 SOC) did in fact push the ball, running the Panthers out of their own gym with a 67-42 rout. The win avenges an early 55-53 Southern Oregon Conference loss to South and puts North in prime position for a playoff berth. "We’ve really come together the last three games," said the 6-foot-2 Mellbye, referring to a win streak that has victimized Eagle Point, Ashland and now the Panthers. "We want to go to the playoffs and do well while we’re there." With five games remaining, North stands tied with Ashland for second in the SOC behind unblemished Roseburg. And while the playoffs are looking more and more promising, first-year coach Tim Karrick is simply satisfied with the improvement over his team’s mini conference win streak. "These last three games have been really solid," said Karrick. "We have some young kids, a lot of sophomores (six) but they are starting to mature and accept their roles. "All the kids did a good job tonight." While she’s not one of the young pups on the squad, Mellbye knows her role. The senior, who also helped North dominate the glass with eight rebounds, scored eight of her 13 first-half points in the second quarter to help the Tornado roll to a 21-11 advantage and a 35-18 lead at the break. The Panthers did a decent job of containing Mellbye in the first quarter but didn’t have an answer for Mellisa Eastwold. The sophomore post came off the bench to spark a 7-0 run to end the first quarter with several hustle plays resulting in a 14-7 lead after one. With the post play starting to wear down South, sophomore point guard Kailey Bostwick orchestrated the run-and-gun portion of the attack with eight points in the first half. "We watched film and saw how we could run the ball and feed the post against them (South)," said Bostwick, who also dished out four assists. "She (Mellbye) dominates in there so you’d be stupid not to get it to her." The Panthers tried to slow the tempo in the second half, but it was much of the same as the Tornado nearly duplicated their second-quarter effort and held a commanding 56-30 lead heading into the final period. Defensively, North had a hand in forcing the Panthers into 25 turnovers — 17 in the first half — and held South to 21 rebounds and just 33 shot attempts. "We didn’t have many chances to get out and run in the first game with them because we couldn’t get many stops," said Karrick. "Tonight, we did a good job of blocking out and getting the ball up the floor. "It all starts with our defense, though, and tonight we were great." The Black Tornado maintained its 20-plus point lead throughout the fourth quarter before clearing the bench with just over two minutes to play. "Give them all the credit, they dominated us in every aspect," said South coach Andrea Jaime. "We tried to get back to what we do best (in the second half), but they just killed us on the boards and we couldn’t contain Mellbye." Beth Mueller led the Panthers with 13 points — eight coming in the fourth quarter — while Kelsey Corbin added eight and Natasha Wright seven. Anna Lilly scored all five of her points in the first half and finished with a team-high six assists. Teammate Michelle Westermann scored eight of her 10 points in the second half and shot 5-of-7 from the field. NORTH MEDFORD (67) — Westermann 10, Bostwick 8, Cordell 2, Standifer 0, Eastwold 10, Seeley 2, Mellbye 24, Lilly 5, Reeves 4, Bennett 2, Heath 0, Murphy 0. Totals: 26 12-16 67. SOUTH MEDFORD (42) — Wright 7, Corbin 8, Silva 5, Mueller 13, Singler 1, Brennan 6, Towry 2, Grant 0, Hilgendorf 0, Carlton 0, Palazzolo 0. Totals: 14 13-22 42. North Medford..........................14 21 21 11 — 67 South Medford............................7 11 12 12 — 42 3-point goals — North Medford 3 (Lilly 1, Bostwick 2), South Medford 1 (Wright). JV result — North Medford won. Reach reporter Kevin Goff at 776-4480 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 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S