Varsity 541

North stymies Ashland

Text Size: A | A | A

 Print this Article
 Email this Article
 Respond to this Article

North Medford combined tight defensive pressure and balanced scoring to post a 50-41 home nonconference girls basketball victory over Ashland Tuesday.

The Black Tornado jumped out to an 8-0 start against the Grizzlies (2-5).

"Our girls played really well," said North Medford first-year coach Kevin Dixon. "I was happy with our overall effort. We're playing well together."

North junior point guard Karissa Dixon scored 12 points, provided six assists and came up with five steals. Sophomore Alyssa Maurer contributed 12 points and eight rebounds. And Andrea Egge also had 12 points.

"We really have four girls that can average in double figures," said Dixon, who included McKenzie Smith with Dixon, Maurer and Egge. "We're playing very unselfish. Someone different every night can lead us in scoring."

Ashland's Kelsey McKinnis paced all scorers with 17 points and point guard Allison Gida chipped in 14.

"They've got two girls (McKinnis and Gida) that can score real well," said Dixon. "McKinnis is a good shooter. You can't let her get into a rhythm."

Black Tornado junior guard Natalie DeKorte played outstanding on the defensive end and contributed eight points.

"(DeKorte) is our defensive stopper," said Dixon. "She gave Allison some fits. We put (DeKorte) on the tough guards. She is very athletic."

North (4-1) led 25-21 at halftime, then maintained the advantage after intermission.

"We could have executed better in the second half," said Dixon. "We need to be more patient when we have the lead. We want to spread people out and get to the rim.

"This was a good measuring rod. Ashland beat South Medford and Grants Pass. This give us an idea where we're at."

ASHLAND (41) — Van Vleck 2, Contreras 4, McKinnis 17, Petitt 0, Palmesano 0, Gida 14, DelCarlo 4. Totals: 14 9-15 41.

NORTH MEDFORD (50) — Straub 0, Schmidt 0, Maurer 12, DeKorte 8, Black 0, Dixon 12, Egge 12, Webb 0, Smith 6, D. Totals: 20 9-21 50.

Ashland 9 12 6 14 — 41

North Medford 14 11 9 16 — 50

3-point goals — Ashland 4 (McKinnis 4), North Medford 1 (Egge 1). Fouled out — Gida, DelCarlo.

JV result — Ashland won.

SOUTH MEDFORD 58, MAZAMA 54 — Brittney Newcomb paced South Medford with 20 points and came up clutch down the stretch at the Panthers' gym.

The Panthers (2-3) converted just 13 of 27 free throws, but Newcomb sank four straight from the line in the final 45 seconds to help preserve the advantage.

South Medford received effective interior play from posts Jamee Batten and Leilani Morris. Batten, a sophomore, and the freshman Morris combined for 17 points were factors on the boards.

Mazama's Melissa Jones posted a game-high 20 points.

MAZAMA (54) — Grigsby 4, Garrett 9, Jones 20, Karther-Miller 10, Caldwell-MacPhee 4, Saltenberger 7, Edwards 0. Totals: 17 17-30 54.

SOUTH MEDFORD (58) — Becker 0, Hubbard 2, Batten 9, Carraway 0, Curtuis 2, Newcomb 20, Barkley 8, Morris 8, Corona 0, Matlock 7, T. Picknell 0, H. Picknell 2. Totals: 21 13-27 58.

Mazama 17 10 10 17 — 54

South Medford 14 17 9 18 — 58

3-point goals — Mazama 3 (Karther-Miller 2, Saltenberger 1), South Medford 3 (Newcomb 2, Barkley 1). Fouled out — Saltenberger, Batten.

JV result — South Medford won.

PHOENIX 68, KLAMATH UNION 48 — At Phoenix, Chelsea Passante was on fire from long range and Phoenix shot 55 percent from the field in winning its 10th game in 11 outings.

Passante was 6 of 10 from 3-point range and finished with a game-high 22 points. The senior guard also contributed eight rebounds and seven assists.

Phoenix junior point guard Kelsey George tossed in 12 points to go with seven assists and seven steals. The Pirates received a strong performance off the bench from Kirstie Heath. The senior post registered a career-high 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

For Klamath Union, Katey Choukalos led the Pels with 17 points.

Phoenix will host defending state champion Sutherlin in its next game on Dec. 29.

KLAMATH UNION (48) — Choukalos 17, Lundy 5, Walker 4, Burns 7, Gonzalez 6, Rudd 5, Roberts 4, Otero 0. Totals: 18 7-16 48.

PHOENIX (68) — Welburn 2, George 12, Bradfield 8, Helm 3, Engle 1, Smith 6, Tally 4, Heath 10, Passante 22, Horton 0, Hendricks 0. Totals: 30 2-4 68.

Klamath Union 11 7 12 18 — 48

Phoenix 15 22 19 12 — 68

3-point goals — Klamath Union 5 (Choukalos 1, Lundy 1, Burns 1, Rudd 1, Roberts 1), Phoenix 6 (Passante 6).

JV score — Phoenix 38, Klamath Union 34.

SUTHERLIN 36, HIDDEN VALLEY 22 — At Sutherlin, defending 4A state champion Sutherlin triumphed in the nonconference game.

Jamie Richardson had nine points and Haley Fikso six rebounds, but they were two of three players to foul out for the Mustangs, who dropped to 3-3.

HIDDEN VALLEY (22) — Richardson 9, Wood 6, Fikso 4, Bailey 2, Figoni 1, Powell 0, Swanson 0, Doig 0, Guevara 0. Totals: 5 11-21 22.

SUTHERLIN (36) — Norman 3, Weber 6, Bennett 7, Terrel-Perez 6, Hutching 8, Cowan 6, Garcia 0, Gulman 0. Totals: 13 8-18 36.

Hidden Valley 4 6 3 9 — 22

Sutherlin 5 11 7 13 — 36

3-point goals — Hidden Valley 1 (Richardson 1), Sutherlin 2 (Norman 1, Weber 1). Fouled out — Richardson, Bailey, Fikso.

ROGUE RIVER 56, SOUTH UMPQUA 28 — At Rogue River, seniors Sabrina Smith and Shawna Turnham had their best outing in tandem in the nonconference win.

Smith had a career-high 17 points and nine rebounds, and Turnham turned in 14 points and six assists.

The Chieftains, who limited the Lancers to two second-quarter points, are 4-4.

SOUTH UMPQUA (28) — Stevenson 14, Whitmore 4, Lampton 3, Schoonhoven 5, Taylor 2, Ball 0, Dennis 0, Church 0. Totals: 11 6-14 28.

ROGUE RIVER (56) — Johnson 2, Lara 1, Ehrhardt 8, Turnham 14, B. Coulter 2, Smith 17, Maxey 8, Fricke 4, Hall 0, A. Coulter 0, Milligan 0. Totals: 25 4-13 56.

South Umpqua 10 2 6 10 — 28

Rogue River 18 16 16 6 — 56

3-point goals — Rogue River 2 (Maxey 2).

JV score — Rogue River 48, South Umpqua 24.

Boys

MAZAMA 61, PHOENIX 26 — At Klamath Falls, Mazama set a school record for fewest points allowed in the nonconference win. The previous low was 28.

Class 5A Mazama (6-1) got 17 points and four assists from Jordan Rose, 15 points and seven rebounds from Drew Millsap and 15 points and five steals from Daniel Mathis.

PHOENIX (26) — Young 7, Lapat 2, Treadway 4, Crichton 5, Hendricks 2, Ralls 0, Damon 0, Campoy 4, Tally 2, Sauceda 0, Bohn 0. Totals: 10 4-7 26.

MAZAMA (61) — Mathis 15, Rose 17, Swann 2, Mawson 5, Millsap 15, Feeback 0, Anderson 2, Saltenberger 4, Reinhard 0, Jackson 1, Hall 0. Totals: 25 6-10 61.

Phoenix 5 4 4 13 — 26

Mazama 12 23 14 12 — 61

3-point goals — Phoenix 2 (Crichton 1, Young 1), Mazama 5 (Mathis 3, Rose 1, Millsap 1). Fouled out — none.

JV score — Mazama 59, Phoenix 45.

ROGUE RIVER 51, SOUTH UMPQUA 41 — At Tri City, for the first time this season, Rogue River led from start to finish.

Craig Lee and Cole Watson spearheaded the Chieftain pressure defense that came up with 16 steals. Lee and Watson each had six steals. Lee, a senior wing, added seven rebounds and six assists, and Watson had six rebounds.

Junior Brendan Schoner paced Rogue River (5-4) with 13 points, while Chrystian Johnson scored 10.

ROGUE RIVER (51) — Schoner 13, Mitchell 8, Krouse 2, Watson 6, McBee 3, Lee 9, Johnson 10, Stinchcomb 0. Totals; 22 2-2 51.

SOUTH UMPQUA (41) — Schoonhoven 5, Smedley 12, Huling 8, Jansen 4, Aliff 2, McFarland 10. Totals: 18 4-7 41.

Rogue River 14 16 11 10 — 51

South Umqpua 10 15 9 7 — 41

3-point goals — Rogue River 5 (Schoner 2, Mitchell 1, Lee 1, McBee 1), South Umpqua 1 (Smedley 1).

JV result — South Umpqua won.