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South tops St. Mary�s to win Classic Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman By Don Hunt One of the goals for the South Medford High boys basketball team this season was to win a holiday tournament. Mission accomplished. Now the Panthers take aim at another objective: Winning the Southern Oregon Conference championship. South Medford withstood a third-period lull to down St. Mary�s High of Berkeley, Calif., 63-50, in the title game of the Abby�s Holiday Classic Saturday night in the Panthers� gym. Now 8-2 on the season, the Panthers begin conference play Tuesday at Roseburg. Eric Fiegi and John McKay scored 14 points each and Ryan Heil added 13 as South Medford beat a talented St. Mary�s squad. "I think we�ve got the ingredients to be a very good basketball team," Panthers coach Dennis Murphy said. "We do a lot of things well and we play very unselfishly." St. Mary�s played without its best player, junior point guard DaShawn Freeman, who suffered a cut over his right eye a night earlier in a victory over North Medford. To make matters worse, star forward Chase Moore picked up three fouls late in the first period and sat out the remainder of the first half. Against most opponents, such a double blow wouldn�t have proved lethal because St. Mary�s usually generates a lot of points off its fullcourt press and fastbreak. But South Medford got back on defense and handled the press reasonably well. The Panthers took a 10-9 lead midway through the first period and then rattled off 15 points while holding St. Mary�s scoreless for 11 minutes. McKay�s 3-point bomb from the baseline with 3:09 remaining in the half made it 25-9 and suddenly, it appeared as though South Medford might run the Californians right out of the building. "Our mindset coming into the game was that we had to defend this team better than they�ve ever been defended," said McKay, who shadowed the muscular Moore. "We knew we had to step it up defensively if we were going to win." John Sharper finally broke the drought for St. Mary�s when he swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:52 remaining in the first half that made it 25-12. South Medford was still up by 15 points at the half (32-15) thanks to a three-point play by the 6-foot-8 Fiegi, who rounded in his own miss and then hit a free throw with 1/10th of a second left before intermission. But St. Mary�s didn�t win eight of its first nine games by lying down, and one could sense it would mount a comeback in the second half. And it did. With Moore providing the early impetus with an 8-foot hook from the baseline and Matt Straus and Sharper each nailing treys, St. Mary�s outscored South Medford 18-6 in the third period to get within 38-35. South Medford desperately needed someone to hit a basket early in the fourth period, and McKay was the man. The 6-foot-3 senior drilled a 3-pointer from the baseline. "Heil penetrated, kicked it to me and I got a wide-open look," said McKay, who celebrated his 18th birthday Saturday. "I knew that shot was going down as soon as it left my hand." St. Mary�s got two free throws from Sharper and a layup from Straus that cut South Medford�s lead to 41-39, but Heil retaliated with a 12-foot jumper from the left side to again give the Panthers some breathing room. From there, the Panthers went to a double high-post, cut-to-the-basket offense to take time off the clock and spread the court. They worked nearly a minute off the clock before Heil hit a cutting Marshall for a layup and a 45-39 South Medford lead with 5:20 to play. The next time up the floor, Fiegi sank a 15-foot jumper from the free-throw line and the Panthers rattled off six more points in succession, the final two on a nifty reverse layup by Craig Tomlins. That made it 53-39 with 2:55 remaining and South Medford could start its celebration. "That was a great coaching move to go to that offense at that time," said Heil, who had six assists and five rebounds to augment his 12 points. "We took time off the clock and got a couple of easy baskets. "Even though they didn�t have their point guard, they�re still an excellent team. This was a big win for us heading into our league schedule." St. Mary�s coach Jose Caraballo said that Freeman, who is being recruited by both Oregon and Oregon State, wanted to play Saturday but that he was suffering from blurred vision. "His health is the important thing right now and we�ve got league games next week," Caraballo said. Caraballo wouldn�t use Freeman�s absence as an excuse, although he admitted Moore getting into early foul trouble was the last thing his team needed. "Give South Medford credit," he said. "They got back on defense, took care of the basketball and played good defense. "We did a good job of coming back, but we expended so much energy in the third quarter that we didn�t have much left in our tank in the fourth." SHELDON 69, CHICO, CALIF. 44 � At South Medford, Sheldon senior post Matt Haliski scored eight of his 15 points in the second quarter as the Irish blitzed Chico 15-1 en route to fourth place. Chico�s Garrett Cross tallied a game-high 21 points. CHICO (44) � Wilson 4, Englebert 0, Zeromedi 2, Hartman 0, Baccam 6, Kniffin 0, Pichardo 2, Nelson 3, Benson 4, Cross 21, Kennedy 2. Totals: 19 6-12 44. SHELDON (69) � C. Mart 11, Vesaw 2, Martell 8, Erickson 8, Trench 0, J. Mart 0, Ross 5, Perry 3, Copley 9, Marsden 6, Smith 2, Haliski 15. Totals: 26 14-18 69. Chico....................................................... 14 1 8 19 � 44 Sheldon ...............................................17 15 20 17 � 69 3-point goals � Sheldon 3 (C. Mart 1, Ross 1, Perry 1). CENTENNIAL 60, NORTH BEND 47 � At South Medford, Centennial rallied from a one-point deficit entering the final period in the seventh-place contest. Centennial shot 14 of 16 from the foul line in the final period. Eagles senior guard Jon Miller scored 12 of his team-high 21 points in fourth. North Bend�s Kyle Johnson led all scorers with 25 points. CENTENNIAL (60) � Knudsen 5, Speak 9, Cosper 6, Chezik 2, Miller 21, Gustafson 14, Jones 3, Nemmerg 0, Keaton 0. Totals: 14 28-36 60. NORTH BEND (47) � Moe 11, Christenson 0, Bockwinkel 3, Laport 6, Sterling 0, K. Johnson 25, M. Johnson 2, Casey 0, Thurber 0. Totals: 18 7-12 47. Centennial ............................................13 14 11 22 � 60 North Bend ...........................................11 14 14 12 � 47 3-point goals � Centennial 4 (Knudsen 1, Miller 3), North Bend 4 (Bockwinkel 1, K. Johnson 3). Fouled out � Christenson. Technical foul � North Bend coach John Olson. 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 � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.