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Photo by Jim Craven Guard Sarah Yager, left, of Crater tries to dribble around North Medford's Jamie MacLauchlan during their Southern Oregon Conference battle Friday. Behind Pool, Comets sink Tornado By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN Crater High sophomore point guard Sarah Pool put on a dazzling display of passing as the Comets foiled an old nemesis. Pool dished off 15 assists, primarily to her talented pool of inside post players, to ignite the ninth-ranked Comets to a 61-37 Southern Oregon Conference girls basketball win over North Medford Friday night in the Black Tornado gym. North Medford's Ashley Nelson, left, scores over the defense of Crater's Sarah Pool and Skye Hemphill, right. It was only Crater coach Dave Heard's second win in six visits to North as his team upped its SOC record to 2-0 and its overall mark to 6-1. "It's nice to put that pattern to rest of losing here," said Heard. "We've had our problems here in the past, but that's not important now. It's good for our confidence to win like this here." Pool, a 5-foot-6 transfer from Bend High, who averaged more than 10 assists a game for the Lava Bear varsity team as a freshman last season, showed why, slicing up North's interior defense with her nifty and accurate passes to a bevy of 6-foot post players. "People are going to be surprised when they see Sarah had 15 assists against a good defensive team," said Heard. "But we're not surprised because we see it every day in practice. "She's a great passer who is totally unselfish," said Heard. Pool had five points to go with her 15 assists. She says she learned to pass and play unselfishly from her father, Larry Pool, a former Bend High varsity assistant coach. "We worked on that when I was young, and I've always liked to pass more than shoot," said Pool. With Pool's passes flying inside with uncanny accuracy, Crater post players Sarah Hemphill, Jody McLeod and Amy Denson found themselves shooting uncontested layups for much of the final three quarters. "My job is to pass first and shoot second," said Pool. "When we move the ball like this, you can see what kind of potential we have. "This is just the beginning of us showing what we can do, I think," said Pool. "There's a lot more coming." Guard Cari Jones led North Medford with nine points, while forward Tasha Williams added seven. During the opening 12 minutes, North Medford played the Comets on even terms. The Black Tornado held leads of 17-14 and 20-19 before the Comets took off their full-court press and settled into a half-court game, led by Pool. The Comets went on a 14-3 run to take a 33-23 halftime lead. They scored the first three points of the third quarter to build the lead to 36-23. That was the beginning of the end for North Medford. "It's tradition that when Crater and North meet, it becomes a different kind of game with a lot intensity," said North Medford first-year coach J.T. Thomas. "We held our own with them and forced a lot of turnovers (nine in the first quarter and seven in the second quarter). "But they took off their press and we lost some patience in the second quarter. That hurt us." But Thomas saw some elements from his team's play that he says are pleasing. "We hung with a real good team for a half, and the girls went out of here feeling good about that," said Thomas. "We showed ourselves what we can do in the first half, but we didn't maintain it for the entire second half and Crater took advantage by playing pretty consistently." Crater outscored North 15-8 in the third quarter and 13-6 in the fourth. North fell to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in SOC play. Hemphill scored 10 of her 15 points in the second half for Crater. Pool led a 10-3 Crater run in the third quarter with three assists and a 3-point field goal, as Crater increased its lead to 48-31 at the end of three quarters. "We made a mistake by committing to her (Pool) too soon when she started to drive into the lane," said Thomas. "That left their inside people open. "She's a very good player, she makes a very good team a better team." CRATER (61) -- Yager 5, Hemphill 15, Pool 5, Chase 0, Sapienza 2, McLeod 11, Wiersma 5, Hall 3, Nafie 0, Denson 15, Johnson 0. Totals: 22-41 14-23 61. NORTH MEDFORD (37) -- Horn 2, Jones 9, Veersteeg 3, Bennett 0, Williams 7, MacLaughlan 2, Manwaring 4, Hwang 4, Miller 4, Allen 0, Nelson 6. Totals: 14-42 8-20 37 Crater .................14 19 15 13 -- 61 North Medford ........13 10 8 6 -- 37 3-point goals -- Crater 3-9 (Yager 1, Pool 1, Hall 1), North Medford 1 (Jones 1). Fouled out -- Manwaring. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.