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39 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, December 5, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 4, 2004 South Medford�s Michael Harthun, left, drives on South Eugene�s JR Morgan during the first quarter. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Axemen win battle of the Souths Early onslaught helps South Eugene snap South Medford’s 41-game home winning streak By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune With five first-year starters and sophomore sensation Kyle Singler sidelined by a broken thumb, the third-ranked South Medford boys basketball team was destined to suffer through its share of growing pains this season. Still, when you play in a Panther program where there’s no such thing as a moral victory, Friday’s season opener against fourth-ranked South Eugene proved difficult to swallow. The visiting Axemen stormed out to a 23-9 lead in the first quarter and staved off a Panther rally to snap South Medford’s 41-game home winning streak with a 57-51 victory. "I feel bad about the streak," said 6-foot-7 senior Brent Johnson, who led the Panthers with 16 points and eight rebounds. "I don’t want us to be known as the weak link in South Medford basketball." Advertisement Judging by the way the young Panthers handled such an adverse start, Johnson and crew shouldn’t concern themselves with that possibility. "It was a lot of fun starting the season with two top-ranked teams like that," said South Eugene head coach Dave Hancock. "That’s a good ballclub over there (in South Medford), and they’re only going to get better." The Axemen (1-0) built their largest lead of the night three minutes into the third quarter at 38-21, only to see the Panthers roar back and make it a seven-point contest with 2:55 to play. Freshman Michael Harthun played an integral role in the comeback, scoring 11 of his 14 points in the second half to give Panther fans a glimpse of things to come. He was 5-for-10 from the field, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range. "For me, it was a really good experience," said Harthun, who admitted falling prey to jitters in his high school debut. "I think these next four years are going to be really fun. We have a great coach, and already I’ve learned a ton in practice. Hopefully (today against North Eugene) we can come out and get a win and start a new streak." Trailing 52-45, the Panthers missed a prime chance to cut into South Eugene’s lead with an errant entry pass to Johnson, then duplicated the miscue after two free throws by Jason Moon. Harthun later slipped by senior counterpoint J.R. Morgan for a pull-up jumper to make it 55-49 with 29.9 seconds to go, and another pull-up by senior Isaiah Adams made it 55-51 with 16.3 seconds left. But, following a timeout, South Eugene’s Matt Bramow threw a long inbounds pass to Aric Wright, who skipped it over to teammate Trenton Newton-Jones for the game’s final score. "They’re a really good team," Harthun said of the Axemen. "Right now, they may be a little better than us because we’re young and immature, but we have a lot of talent to build on." Wright’s 15 points led the charge for South Eugene, with three of his five 3-pointers coming in the first quarter as the Axemen seemingly could do no wrong. Newton-Jones added 10 points and eight rebounds, and Bramow chipped in with eight of his 14 points in the early onslaught. "It was a little false because we got a lot of 3s there," Hancock said of the first-quarter lead. "We talked at halftime about what fool’s gold is and that was getting that quick lead by 3s and then you keep shooting 3s and the next thing you know it’s back to even." While his team got the message and made the only two 3-pointers they attempted in the second half, it still didn’t stop the Panthers from scratching their way back into the ballgame. "When we were down by that much, we tried not to panic," said Johnson. "I remember just thinking that we had to score and give our all to make it a game. I know that we can beat that team if we played them again, we just need to have all our pistons firing." South Medford struggled to find a rhythm all night from the field, converting only 39 percent of its shots compared to 50 percent for the Axemen. "I just didn’t think we’d struggle so bad offensively," said Panthers head coach Dennis Murphy. "Maybe we were trying too hard, I don’t know, but that piece of the game was disappointing. I was still proud of the way we came back and competed hard and never conceded anything." Mark McKay added nine points and four rebounds in his varsity debut for the Panthers, with Adams adding seven points and Myles Daley giving a spark off the bench with four points and five rebounds. Making his debut as a starter for South Medford after playing across town for North Medford last season, junior Kendall Gielow managed six rebounds and two steals. SOUTH EUGENE (57) — Wright 15, Bramow 14, Newton-Jones 10, Moon 7, Morgan 4, Williams 4, Blasher 2, Marshall 1, Jagels 0, Rencher 0. Totals: 22-44 7-12 57. SOUTH MEDFORD (51) — Johnson 16, Harthun 14, McKay 9, Adams 7, Daley 4, Gielow 1, Weaver 0, Wright 0. Totals: 19-49 7-14 51. South Eugene..............................23 7 16 11 — 57 South Medford............................9 12 12 18 — 51 3-point goals — South Eugene 6-11 (Wright 5, Bramow 1), South Medford 6-14 (Harthun 3, Adams 1, Johnson 1, McKay 1). Fouled out — Johnson. JV score — South Eugene 50, South Medford 46. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities