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Tornado rally comes up short at state, 60-57 By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN PORTLAND -- North Medford High's boys basketball team found itself on the short end of a 17-point deficit late in the third quarter of its Class 4A state tournament opener on Tuesday night. But the Black Tornado didn't give up. "I feel like the luckiest guy in the world after the way these kids battled back," said North Medford coach Gene Quilhaugh. He had just watched proudly as his team rallied from a 51-34 deficit with three minutes left in the third quarter to cut North Salem's lead to two points with two minutes left in the game. However, North Salem's delay offense and 3-for-4 foul shooting kept the Tornado at bay. The loss sent North Medford (17-6) into today's consolation round against top-rated South Eugene at 10:45 a.m. South Eugene defeated North Medford 57-42 in the preseason. The Axemen (21-2) fell to fourth-ranked Jefferson, 74-48, Tuesday. "We were a little awe-struck coming out here, and there were a lot of big eyes," said Quilhaugh. "North Salem brought about 500 fans to help them and we had about 50, at the most. But they played hard, and did everything they could do to come back. "We could have won," said Quilhaugh. "But we ran out of time." North Medford outscored the Vikings 19-4 in a nine-minute spurt in the second half to pull within 55-53 with 2:39 left in the fourth quarter. Center Travis Hinkle of North Medford hit a 3-point shot from the left wing and wing David Husel scored on a putback after grabbing an offensive rebound with 1:30 to play to cut the lead to 57-55. After point guard Marty Reid of the Vikings made two free throws with 28 seconds left to give his team a 59-55 lead, Husel drove the baseline and scored on a reverse layin with 18 second s left to reduce the North Salem lead to 59-57. North Medford took 14 seconds to foul the Vikings, who were trying to control the ball and run out the clock in the final 20 frantic seconds. Husel fouled Chris Shepard with 4.4 seconds left. "I didn't want to foul, but I didn't have a choice," said Husel. "We had to get the clock stopped." Shepard converted 1-of-2 free throws for the 60-57 margin. North Medford's Jeff Zimmer missed a 50-footer at time ran out. Husel and Hinkle combined for 35 points. Husel had 18 points and Hinkle had 17 points and seven rebounds. "Husel and Hinkle both came up with big games for us and gave us good senior leadership," said Quilhaugn."Both of them played very well." Husel scored 11 of North Medford's first 17 points on 3-of-3 shooting on 3-point shots and a transition layup. Hinkle scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half. Kevin Kongslie of the Vikings made it 57-53 when he took a lob pass on an out-of-bounds play and dropped the ball softly into the basket. Reid converted two free throws with 28 seconds left after Husel had scored on a follow shot after pulling in an offensive rebound. North Medford fell behind 12-7 early in the first quarter, as the Vikings went on a 6-0 run. Reid and Donyae Davis both scored on layups and Kongslie hit two straight free throws. North Medford countered with a 7-0 run as Zimmer and Hinkle hit 15-foot jump shots, Tate Mellbye hit 1-of-2 free throws and Zimmer pulled up off the fastbreak to make a 16-foot jump shot just outside the free-throw line. Husel's 21-foot 3-point shot from the right wing gave North Medford a 20-16 lead with 5:15 left in the second quarter. North Salem rallied to take a 30-27 halftime lead as center Roger Mucken excited the crowd with a dunk and Davis scored four straight points on two free throws and a 16-foot jump shot. The Vikings went on a 12-4 run at the start of the third quarter to take a 42-31 lead. Elliott Alexander hit a 3-point shot from the baseline and added a steal layup to ignite the surge. Center Brett Evert muscled in a follow shot after pulling down an offensive rebound and Kongslie followed with an offensive rebound and follow shot from point-blank range. "They thought we were going to be a push-over tonight," said Hinkle. "We expected to give them a tough game. We expected to win. NORTH MEDFORD (57) -- Zimmer 8, Brownell 4, Husel 18, Hinkle 17, Jantzer 5, Olson 0, Mellbye 3, Pickrell 0, McNeil 0, Towne 2, Jensen 0. Totals: 20-45 13-18 57. NORTH SALEM (60) -- Reid 9, Alexander 16, Davis 8, Kongslie 6, Everet 10, Shepard 1, Reyna 0, Gaffke 0, Mucken 10, Williams 0. Totals: 24-49 10 14. North Medford .......11 16 17 13 -- 57 North Salem ...........12 18 21 9 -- 60 3-point goals -- North Medford 4-13 (Husel 3, Hinkle 1). North Salem 2-6 (Alexander 2). Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.