Document text
Thomas sets scoring mark in South win By Greg Stiles It was a night of triumph, milestones and pain. It should�ve been one of the happier moments in several seasons for South Medford�s girls basketball team. But instead of grins and laughter, the Panthers� faces emitted gloom and tears as they walked off North Medford�s court with a 61-49 victory. South led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter en route to locking up second place in the Southern Oregon Conference, while Kellie Thomas poured in a career-high 25 points as she broke the school scoring record. Yet, the Panthers were stung by yet another physical setback when senior forward Amber Hunt sustained what is possibly a season-ending knee injury in the second quarter. "I can�t believe it�s happening," said Thomas. "I ask myself �Why our team?� Three players with (anterior-cruciate ligament) knee injuries in two years. It�s a real shock. I wish it wasn�t happening." Six straight wins and nine in the past 10 games failed to add much cheer as the Panthers filed out of the locker room. "It�s pretty hard to swallow," said fourth-year South coach Andrea Wegner. "She�s a senior, she�s a starter and its the third ACL injury this group has had in two years. This team has been through a lot of adversity the last three years with the injuries and a player (Emily Sullivan) dying. Every time something like this happens, it all comes back." ACL injuries cost Emily Perttu all of last season and Heather Fossen this season. Despite losing one of their top rebounders and defenders, the Panthers earned a bye into the third round of the state playoffs. They will need only one playoff win to return to the Class 4A tournament for the first time since winning the 1995 SOC championship. "Our team has come a long way the past couple of years," said senior center Karla Zenz. "We�re beating all the teams we couldn�t beat before." And Thomas, who has averaged 20.2 points the past five games, was once again as sharp as a laser, knocking down 5 of 6 shots from behind the 3-point arc. The 5-foot-11 senior guard surpassed Emily Barker�s career scoring mark of 849 points when she muscled her way inside for the first two points of the fourth quarter. "It�s definitely something I�ve been thinking about from the beginning of the season," Thomas said. "We calculated that I needed so many points a game and it�s worked out." Thomas tossed in her first 3-pointer 30 seconds into the game as South burst in front 8-3. Then the Black Tornado (6-17, 3-10 SOC), starting five seniors as it played its final home game, stormed back to take an 11-8 advantage on Stacey Meager�s putback. But the Tornado committed six turnovers in the last 3:30 of the quarter and South went on a 9-0 run as Zenz converted a steal to make it 17-11 after eight minutes. South led 26-20 when Hunt took a charge against North�s Kara Hwang and went down with two minutes to play in the half. The Panthers then widened their lead to 33-23 as Beth Mueller popped in a rebound at the buzzer. "That was really big," Thomas said. "That got our spirits up and gave us a little edge going into half time." South built a 39-12 lead when Thomas buried a 3-pointer with 5:45 to play in the third quarter. But North whittled it down to six as Ashley Nelson scored a bucket, followed by two more hoops by Hwang. But the Panthers restored the advantage to 46-33 with a 7-0 burst that was capped by Natasha Wright�s 15-footer with two seconds left in the period. The Panthers put it away with an 11-2 surge to start the fourth quarter as they built a 57-35 bulge. "They just kept pushing us," Wegner said. "We took the lead and then they came back in the first quarter. Then in the third and fourth quarters they pushed us. Even after we got the lead up to 22 points, they kept coming back." Zenz had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Mueller added seven rebounds and blocked two shots. Whitney Grant finished with nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Nelson led North with 14 points, Hwang had 13 and freshman Brittany Hodges 11 for the Tornado. "We knew we were playing a team that was hot-handed," North coach J.T. Thomas said. "Thomas hit the big 3-pointer (to beat) Grants Pass the other night and she got into her rhythm real quick tonight. We weren�t close enough to get a hand up against her in time." The Tornado coach was pleased by Hodges� effort to slow Grant and keep the Panthers� running game in check. "The coaches were telling me to stay off a little and make her go east-west," Hodges said. "We wanted to limit their fast break so they wouldn�t be running all over us." The hobbled Panthers have little time to regroup before hosting No. 2 Crater Tuesday. It was a game South had long anticipated. But the emphasis might be a little different now. "We�ll figure things out the next week and regroup," Wegner said. "Beth Mueller played well tonight. She�s going to have to step up and play. No matter if Amber is able to return or not, she won�t be 100 percent. We�ve got two weeks to relearn and re-teach things." SOUTH MEDFORD (61) � Perttu 7, Wright 3, Grant 9, Hunt 0, Berkey 0, Thomas 25, Brennon 0, Mueller 5, Zenz 12. Totals: 23-59 8-15 61. NORTH MEDFORD (49) � Hodges 11, Meager 2, Hwang 13, Miller 3, Versteeg 2, Gentry 0, Mellbye 0, Lilly 0, Stevenson 4, Nelson 14. Totals: 20-53 7-16 49. South Medford.......................................17 16 13 15 � 61 North Medford.......................................11 12 10 16 � 49 3-point goals � South Medford 7-12 (Grant 2, Thomas 5), North Medford 2-9 (Miller 1, Nelson 1). JV score � South Medford 54, North Medford 50, OT. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4483, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.