Varsity 541

PREP BASKETBALL

Tornado outlasts Comets

Six players foul out in a physical battle of previously unbeaten teams

This game was neither for the faint of heart nor for those who bristle at the shrill sound of a referee's whistle.

In a matchup of two intense, undefeated boys basketball teams, North Medford defeated Crater, 62-52, in a nonconference game Tuesday in Central Point. The contest was added after a rash of recent cancellations caused by inclement weather.

Six players — three from each team — fouled out. Some others had four fouls, one shy of disqualification, when the game ended, and there was a technical foul to boot.

"Our kids wanted to beat them and their kids wanted to beat us," said Crater coach Troy McNichols, whose Class 5A team dropped to 8-1 but came away feeling good about its ability to compete with a top-flight 6A team.

"The intensity was pretty high and at times it was kind of sloppy," said McNichols. "It was so physical, and we got caught up in it. We made a lot of uncharacteristic turnovers and mistakes we haven't made all season. It was a good game. It was a good test that told us a lot about ourselves."

North Medford (5-0) forced the Comets into 20 turnovers and 35-percent shooting.

The Black Tornado pulled out to an eight-point halftime lead, 35-27. Crater drained a 3-pointer to start the third, but the Comets never did mount a run that would allow them to overtake North Medford.

Crater whittled a 13-point deficit to five with a couple minutes to play, but two turnovers led to five quick points for the Black Tornado and another double-digit advantage.

With North Medford's three top players — Jordan Ellis, Josh Pecktol and Matt Maurer — sidelined after fouling out, Kirii Ross came up with two big rebounds and two foul shots, and Tevin Faust made a couple free throws to help keep the Comets at bay.

Pecktol had 21 points, eight rebounds and six steals, Ellis had 16 points and Maurer contributed 13 rebounds to go with five points.

"Both teams were active on defense," said North Medford coach Scott Plankenhorn, "and the offensive guys were active in attacking them. I think the defensive teams got out of position a little bit (leading to fouls)."

Travis Robbins scored 16 for Crater and Josh Lokeno tallied 11.

Despite their first loss, the Comets were upbeat afterward, said McNichols.

"You always use games like this to measure and gauge where you're at, and we definitely feel like we held our own," he said. "If we can hold our own against a good team like this, I think we can hold our own against anyone in 5A. We definitely took that out of the game."

Both teams have tournaments to look forward to following Christmas.

North Medford, the defending champion, will host the Abby's Holiday Classic Monday through Wednesday.

Crater competes in the Wilsonville Tournament the same days.

NORTH MEDFORD (62) — Maurer 5, Faust 4, Ellis 16, Pecktol 21, Borg 4, Formolo 4, Ross 8, B. Clark 0. Totals: 22-56 15-22 62.

CRATER (52) — Lee 6, Robbins 16, Clark 8, Lokeno 11, Dalton 7, Hicks 4, Reed 0, Corcoran 0. Totals: 18-48 11-18 52.

North Medford 18 17 12 15 — 62

Crater 17 10 11 14 — 52

3-point goals — North Medford 3 (Pecktol 2, Borg 1), Crater 5 (Lee 2, Clark 1, Lokeno 2). Fouled out — Maurer, Ellis, Pecktol, S. Clark, Dalton, Hicks. Technical fouls — Pecktol.

JV score — North Medford 77, Crater 67.

Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail ttrower@mailtribune.com