Varsity 541

Panthers edge Highlanders in opener

Text Size: A | A | A

 Print this Article
 Email this Article
 Respond to this Article

EUGENE — As the South Medford boys basketball team finally got its season up and running on Wednesday, the Panthers weren't sure how they would measure up in their season opener.

And after the first quarter, when the Panthers faced a slim deficit and their point guard Cy Dellenback-Ouellette aggravated an ankle injury, it wasn't the quick start the Panthers have been accustomed to in recent seasons.

Enter the Singler cousins.

Mitch Singler scored seven points in the second quarter, E.J. Singler went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, and the Panthers secured a victory in their season debut, 65-62 over North Eugene.

"It being the first game out, we didn't know where we were starting out," South Medford assistant coach Kirk Daley said. "The assistant coaches do a great job, and the guys did a good job of stepping up and staying focused.

"We're trying to identify what kind of team we're going to be this year. Winning a game on the road like this, it's good for your character."

After the Singlers helped give South a 33-29 advantage at halftime, sophomore Mike Brassel took over for the Panthers.

He scored 13 points off the bench — all in the second half. He hit two 3-pointers, went 5 of 6 from the charity stripe, swiped a pair of steals and took a charge to provide the boost the Panthers (1-0) needed to get the edge.

"It was a big difference when he came in the game," Daley said of Brassel. "He was a huge spark coming off the bench. He did a great job in the third and fourth quarter."

The Panthers headed into the fourth period with a seven-point advantage, and although it began to slip down the stretch because of missed opportunities at the free throw line, South was never seriously threatened.

E.J. Singler finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and three assists while Mitch Singler followed up with 15 points. Josh Havird added nine points.

South Medford coach Dennis Murphy served the first of a two-game suspension for illegally using former players during a practice.

SOUTH MEDFORD (65) — Brassel 13, Dellenback-Ouellette 3, McLaughlin 0, Kynard 3, M. Singler 15, Havird 9, E. Singler 17, Petersen 5. Totals: 19 21-28 65.

NORTH EUGENE (62) — Knight 5, Stricklin 2, Maita 15, Vanderhoff 11, Williamson 0, Dent 11, Kammerer 12, Bibbee 6. Totals: 23 13-16 62.

South Medford 14 19 16 16 — 65

North Eugene 17 12 13 20 — 62

3-point goals — South Medford 6 (Brassel 2, Dellenback-Ouellette 1, M. Singler 1, Havird 1, E. Singler). Fouled out — Brassel. Technical — M. Singler.

JV result — South Medford won.

Girls Basketball

ROGUE RIVER 55, NEW HOPE CHRISTIAN 25 — At Rogue River, Shawna Turnham scored nine of her 11 points in the first quarter as Rogue River built a 23-2 advantage in rolling to victory in the first round of the Chieftain Holiday Classic.

Kelly Maxey also had 11 points and six assists for Rogue River (2-1), which utilized a full-court press to take the early lead.

Sabrina Smith had six points and 10 rebounds, Amanda King had nine points and seven rebounds, and five Chieftain freshmen — Maxey, Alli Ehrhardt, Brittany Coulter, Allison Coulter and Jasmine Cullota — combined for 27 points.

Michelle Aslakson had 17 points for New Hope Christian.

NEW HOPE CHRISTIAN (25) — Murray 2, Aslakson 17, Heryford 1, Jones 3, Lunsford 2, Goddard 0, Cunningham 0, Mundy 0, Besler 0. Totals: 10 4-8 25.

ROGUE RIVER (55) — Lara 2, Ehrhardt 8, Turnham 11, B. Coulter 4, Cullota 2, Smith 6, A. Coulter 2, Maxey 11, King 9, Fricke 0. Totals: 24 3-10 55.

New Hope Christian 2 9 8 6 — 25

Rogue River 23 13 7 12 — 55

3-point goals — New Hope Christian 1 (Aslakson 1), Rogue River 4 (Maxey 3, Turnham 1).

PHOENIX JV 51, ROGUE VALLEY ADVENTIST 49 — For the second straight game, Rogue Valley Adventist made a late charge but came up short in a nonconference loss to the Phoenix junior varsity at RVA School.

Jordan Parmenter poured in a game-high 24 points and hauled in six rebounds to pace the Red Tail Hawks (1-2), who outscored the Pirates 17-12 in the fourth quarter.

RVA's Jessica Wold added six points and seven rebounds and Katie Jo Cole had four assists to go with her four points.

The Pirates were fueled by Mackenzie Welburn, who scored 21 points and drilled six of her team's 3-pointers. Adrienne Engle helped share the load with 16 points.

PHOENIX JV (51) — Horton 2, Welburn 21, Engle 16, Gordon 8, Strong 4, Roden 0, Lee 0, Klymsap 0, Crillo 0. Totals: 15 14-19 51.

ROGUE VALLEY ADVENTIST (49) — Wold 6, Cool 4, Allen 5, Parmenter 24, Mailand 2, Cole 4, Leffingwell 4, Robertson 0, Totals: 23 2-5 49.

Phoenix JV 10 9 20 12 — 51

Rogue Valley Adventist 11 10 11 17 — 49

3-point goals — Phoenix JV 7 (Welburn 6, Engle 1), Rogue Valley Adventist 1 (Parmenter 1).

Hockey

NORTH MEDFORD 8, CRATER 6 — Alan Evans had four goals, including the decisive score in the third period, and two assists as North Medford (2-0) defeated Crater (0-3) at The RRRink.

Evans tied it at 6 with 8:57 to play in the third period and scored the go-ahead goal with 7:40 to play in a back-and-forth contest that saw four lead changes.

Jared McClure added two goals and an assist and Rex Bufalino had three assists for North Medford. Chase Myers was the winning goalkeeper with 13 saves.

Bryce Crawford had four goals and Cody Martin scored two goals and had two assists for Crater. Lucas Paulsen had 19 saves.

Crawford scored the first goal of the game, but North Medford responded with three straight goals in the first period coming from Taylor Covey, Evans and McClure.

Crater managed to tie it at 4-4 on a Crawford goal in the second period, but North Medford took the lead heading into the final period on Evans' goal from Bufalino.

Crawford knotted the score again at 5-5 early in the third and Martin gave Crater the lead with an unassisted goal before Evans scored his back-to-back goals. Phil Sipress added an insurance goal with under two minutes to play.

Crater 1 3 2 — 6

North Medford 3 2 3 — 8

ASHLAND 6, KLAMATH FALLS 3 — At Klamath Falls, Casey Skolnik scored four goals and assisted another in the win for Ashland (3-0) at the Bill Collier Community Ice Arena.

Skolnik scored twice in the first period, his second coming on an assist by Keegan Healy. He put Ashland ahead 4-2 with two more goals in the second period. Ian White assisted Skolnik on his third goal.

Trevor Perry scored an unassisted goal and Josh McLaughlin scored on an assist by Skolnik for Ashland in the third period.

The Grizzlies' Gabe Dean made 18 saves.

Isaac Morgan, Blake Adkins and Lou Macias had goals for Klamath Falls and Aaron Bellini had two assists.

Klamath Falls' Zahlen Zbinden made 36 saves.

ASHLAND 2 2 2 — 6

KLAMATH FALLS 1 1 1 — 3