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51 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, April 25, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 16, 2005 Justin Krafft of Phoenix, right, scrambles for a loose ball in the second quarter with North Valley�s Derekk Vandehey during their Skyline Conference boys basketball game Tuesday. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Slow start hurts Pirates North Valley opens a 22-point lead at halftime to pin the first home loss on Phoenix in a key Skyline contest By KEVIN GOFF Mail Tribune PHOENIX — The North Valley boys basketball team turned into a nightmare of a houseguest Tuesday night. The Knights strolled into the Phoenix High Gym, dirtied up the place with a lights-out first half and left the Pirates with a 55-39 defeat, their first home loss of the season. Senior post Andy Shannon and senior point guard Anthony Spain scored 24 and 14 points, respectively, to help North Valley clinch sole possession of second place in the Skyline Conference with one game remaining. Phoenix (13-10, 7-4 Skyline), which dropped a 58-40 decision to the Knights the first time the teams met, is now in third and hosts second-ranked and league-leading Hidden Valley next Tuesday. "I knew we were ready to play," said North Valley coach Rob Boye, whose team closes the regular season at Rogue River on Friday. "We’ve been a little sick with the flu, so I was worried about that. But our senior leaders really energized us with their defense." Advertisement North Valley (15-8, 8-3) used a 17-0 run to blaze to a 21-6 lead in the first quarter and led 36-14 at the half on 16 of 24 shooting. Phoenix, meanwhile, labored to a 4-for-25 effort from the field against the Knights’ 2-3 zone defense. "I was very disappointed and surprised with how poorly we played," said Pirate coach Kevin Dixon on his team’s first-half woes. "We didn’t play with a lot of purpose out there." Shannon and Spain combined for 25 points at the half and, along with fellow starters Greg Richardson, Josh Makepeace and Quentin Tisch, upped the defensive pressure to limit Phoenix to just four field goals. "We wanted to treat this game like a playoff game," said the 6-foot-5 Shannon. "I was really energized for this one." The Pirates held brief leads of 3-2 and 6-4 following two Kyle McKinnis 3s in the opening two minutes. But North Valley spread the floor on offense and Spain used his quickness to break down the Phoenix defense to create easy baskets for himself and others. "Not too many kids in the state can stay with him," said Boye of Spain, who finished with eight assists. "He made things easier for the rest of the guys." Spain and Makepeace each drained 3-pointers to give North Valley a 10-6 lead. Shannon added back-to-back buckets and Makepeace closed the first period with another trey for a 21-6 edge. Phoenix, on the other hand, didn’t find the hoop again until the 7-minute mark of the second period. "(North Valley) is tough," said Dixon. "They’ve been playing well lately. "We sometimes struggle against zone defenses because we don’t have a true point guard to create shots. We can get in trouble if we don’t run our sets." The Pirates trailed by as many as 23 points (36-13) in the second quarter but seemed to find their stride in the second half. Senior Ben Sinner, a 6-6 post, came off the bench to give Phoenix a boost with four points and, more importantly, a shot-altering presence in the paint. Junior Ben Decuir, who muscled down a team-high nine rebounds, and senior Justin Krafft also contributed a pair of baskets as Phoenix whittled the lead to 14 points on three separate occasions in the final period. But the shooting woes were too much for the Pirates to overcome and North Valley was able to wean the final minute off the clock. "I was shocked," said Dixon. "We just couldn’t make a shot. "I was pleased with our intensity and effort in the second half but we just couldn’t make a run." Boye, whose team has won 7 of 8 since a 1-2 start in the conference, was pleased with his squad’s perseverance during Phoenix’s second-half burst. "I expected a Dixon-coached team to come at us like that in the second half," Boye said. "(Phoenix) came out and threw the kitchen sink at us. "We showed a lot of poise at times in the second half to kind of weather the storm." NORTH VALLEY (55) — Shannon 24, Spain 14, Makepeace 8, Tisch 7, Vandehey 2, Ellis 0, Polsinelli 0, Richardson 0. Totals: 23 5-10 55. PHOENIX (39) — Krafft 8, Decuir 7, Bursk 7, McKinnis 6, Sinner 4, Smith 3, Shepherd 2, Joseph 2, Ritchie 0. Totals: 13 10-17 39. North Valley................................21 15 8 11 — 55 Phoenix.........................................6 8 14 11 — 39 3-point goals — North Valley 4 (Makepeace 2, Spain 1, Tisch 1), Phoenix 3 (McKinnis 2, Smith 1). JV score — North Valley 63, Phoenix 52. Reach reporter Kevin Goff at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. 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