Panthers advance to Red Bluff title game

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RED BLUFF, Calif. — South Medford shook off a sluggish start to cruise past Pleasant Valley of Chico, Calif., 59-41, in the semifinals of the eight-team Red Bluff Holiday Classic boys basketball tournament on Friday.

Senior point guard Michael Harthun scored 12 of his game-high 26 points in the second quarter to lead the Panthers on a 21-4 scoring burst to give them a 32-16 cushion at the half. South had trailed 12-11 after the first period.

"We cranked it up some in the second quarter and (Harthun) started shooting the ball much better," said South Medford coach Dennis Murphy.

"I don't think we were quite as prepared as we needed to be to come out and play," added the coach. "We went through stretches where we forced some shots and everything was off one pass. We didn't move the ball well at all."

Harthun missed his first five field goal attempts but finished 12 of 22 from the field to go with five assists and three steals.

Junior E.J. Singler added 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting to go with four rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks. Conner Egan came off the bench to snag 10 rebounds.

The Panthers (4-0), ranked No. 1 in the Class 6A coaches' poll, will take on El Camino in tonight's championship game at 7:30. El Camino boasts good team quickness, according to Murphy, and features a pressure defense similar to the Panthers.

South Medford has played in the title contest on three previous occasions, with the last coming in 2005, when the Panthers won their only Red Bluff championship.

PLEASANT VALLEY (41) — Carter 4, Swaim 0, Newton 0, Dirong 0, Reynolds 4, Beehner 0, Riley 0, Schwarz 2, Harvey 9, Moore 0, Coppage 0, D. Simmons 0, Lundberg 0, J. Simmons 0, O'Kelley 22. Totals: 17 2-7 41.

SOUTH MEDFORD (59) — Aguirre 0, Duran-Chaparro 3, Harthun 26, Haveman 2, M. Singler 2, Kezer 2, E. Singler 15, Walport 0, Egan 5, Boyd 4, Work 0, Phillips 0. Totals: 26 5-10 59.

Pleasant Valley 12 4 13 11 — 41

South Medford 11 21 13 14 — 59

3-point goals — Pleasant Valley 5 (Harvey 1, O'Kelley 4), South Medford 2 (Duran-Chaparro 1, Harthun 1).

GRANTS PASS 66, SOUTH SALEM 55 — At Grants Pass, Buddy Saxon scored 23 points as the Cavemen evened their nonconference record at 2-2.

Grants Pass limited the Saxons to a total of seven points in the second and third quarters.

Dee Wiersma made three 3-pointers and added 13 points in the win.

SOUTH SALEM (55) — Moore 3, Archer 3, Loch 3, C. Miller 0, B. Miller 10, Pagett 4, McGoldrick 0, Cannefax 16, Lynch 0, Hull 5, Roark 0, Koon 3, Taleria 8. Totals: 18 14-24 55.

GRANTS PASS (66) — Morgan 6, Nickelson 0, Carpenter 1, West 3, Saxon 23, Connelly 0, Haggard 2, Wiersma 13, Parker 2, Romick 0, Nottingham 0, Fields 8, Davison 8. Totals: 20 23-30 66.

South Salem 21 3 4 27 —55

Grants Pass 20 16 7 23 —66

3-point goals — Grants Pass 3 (Wiersma 3), South Salem 5 (Loch 1, Cannefax 2, Koon 1, Taleria 1). Technical foul — South Salem bench.

JV result — Grants Pass won.

TRINITY 60, EAGLE POINT 46 — At Anderson, Calif., Trinity hit 13 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter to pull away from Eagle Point at the Anderson Tournament.

The Eagles (2-9) had rallied from an early eight-point deficit to take a 35-33 lead heading into the final quarter.

Eagle Point's Austin Marlia led all scorers with 21 points, while Chris Omotoy added eight points and five rebounds.

The Eagles play West Valley today at noon.

EAGLE POINT (46) — Marlia 21, Omotoy 8, Rowley 5, Tuttle 4, Taylor 4, Erickson 2, Gonzales 2, Alexander 0, Cesar-Banuelos 0, J. Marlia 0. Totals: 18 6-12 46.

TRINITY (60) — Nugent 17, McKnight 12, Lackey 11, Bradford 7, Hymas 8, Atkins 3, Croom 2. Totals: 22 15-26 60.

Eagle Point 4 17 14 11 — 46

Trinity 12 10 11 27 — 60

3-point goals — Eagle Point 4 (A. Marlia 4), Trinity 1 (Lackey 1). Fouled out — Rowley, Taylor.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN 55, SOUTH UMPQUA 50, OT — At Rogue River, Scott Morse had 19 points and Ben Joffer drained a 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds left in overtime to break a 50-all tie at the Chieftain Tournament.

The Challengers (5-0) led by eight points with two minutes to go in regulation before a South Umpqua rally was capped by a game-tying basket with two seconds remaining.

South Umpqua pulled even for the last time with 10 seconds to go in overtime, but junior point guard Jarrod Hess found a wide-open Joffer for the fateful 3-pointer. The Lancers then called for a timeout when they had none left, resulting in a technical foul and two free throws by Morse for the final outcome.

Cascade Christian, which also got 17 points from Hess, will face Rogue River at 6:30 tonight in the championship game.

Kyle Blankenship made five 3-pointers en route to a game-high 20 points for South Umpqua, which also got 13 points from Andrew Nale.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN (55) — Morse 19, Cheney 2, Duchien 2, Hess 17, Kinney 4, Joffer 5, Ayala 6, Thomas 0. Totals: 19 13-18 55.

SOUTH UMPQUA (50) — Schoohaven 0, Nale 13, Grady 0, Smedley 3, Blankenship 20, Heintz 6, Matthews 4, Beberger 4. Totals: 19 3-8 50.

Cascade Christian 9 11 10 14 11 — 55

South Umpqua 13 7 7 17 6 — 50

3-point goals — Cascade Christian 4 (Morse 2, Hess 1, Joffer 1), South Umpqua 9 (Nale 3, Smedley 1, Blankenship 5). Fouled out — Beberger. Technical foul — South Umpqua bench 2.

ROGUE RIVER 48, CHILOQUIN 40 — At Rogue River, Carson Frantz scored all 15 of his points in the second half to help spur a rally by Rogue River in the Chieftain Tournament.

Rogue River (2-2) outscored Chiloquin 29-12 in the second half to earn a spot in tonight's championship game. The Chieftains play Cascade Christian at 6:30 p.m.

Cole Watson added 11 points for Rogue River, which outrebounded Chiloquin 21-7 in the second half.

Chad Rich had 17 points to lead Chiloquin.

CHILOQUIN (40) — Rich 17, Jackson 9, Case 6, Sexton 0, Blanton 4, Miller 4. Totals: 18 2-6 40.

ROGUE RIVER (48) — Frantz 15, Watson 11, Schoner 8, Mitchell 8, Hofstrand 0, Mortenson 0, Lee 0, White 4, Johnson 2. Totals: 17 10-15 48.

Chiloquin 14 14 4 8 — 40

Rogue River 11 8 15 14 — 48

3-point goals — Chiloquin 2 (Rich 1, Jackson 1), Rogue River 4 (Schoner 1, Frantz 1, Watson 2).

CRESWELL 64, ILLINOIS VALLEY 41 — At Myrtle Point, Creswell used a 20-11 surge in the third quarter to pull away from Illinois Valley in the first round of the Myrtle Point Tournament.

Kevin Snook led the Cougars with 17 points.

ILLINOIS VALLEY (41) — Snook 17, Hults 4, Paul 4, Augustadt 6, Escalante 2, Crowl 8. Totals: 19 3-3 41.

CRESWELL (64) — Soffano 8, Brown 2, Beltran 19, Stran 3, Dulany 14, Mallirad 4, Gabrial 4, Ellison 4, Reison 6. Totals: 26 10-11 64.

Illinois Valley 8 10 11 12 —41

Creswell 12 13 20 19 —64

3-point goals—Creswell 2.

BUTTE FALLS 54, CAMAS VALLEY 37 — At Butte Falls, point guard Joey Knighton led Butte Falls to a 30-13 scoring advantage in the second half as the Loggers rolled to a convincing win at its own tournament.

Knighton scored 14 points and tallied four rebounds and three steals, while Shane Hamilton scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Butte Falls (2-3).

Maison Cay led Camas Valley with 13 points.

The Loggers play the Cascade Christian JV team in the tournament final today at 4:30.

CAMAS VALLEY (37) — Maison Cay 13, Carter 8, Elliott 6, Dever 4, Fisher 4, Andreas 0, Stotter 2. Totals: 14 4-8 37.

BUTTE FALLS (54) — Knighton 14, Hamilton 13, Sutfin 11, McGonagle 9, Casillas 7, Ellis 0, Gower 0, Kinyon 0, Dunham 0. Totals: 18 15-30 54.

Camas Valley 15 9 5 8 —37

Butte Falls 17 7 14 16 —54

3-point goals — Camas Valley 5 (Cay 2, Carter 2, Elliott 1), Butte Falls 3 (Knighton 2, Hamilton 1). Fouled out — Elliott, Stotter.

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