Varsity 541

PREP BASKETBALL

Tornado is too much

North Medford, looking to defend Abby's title, wears down Battle Ground

Mail Tribune
December 30, 2008

North Medford opened defense of its Abby's Holiday Classic title with one explosive effort.

The Black Tornado made 7 of 17 3-pointers in the first half and kept up relentless pressure in the second half for a resounding, 77-44 victory over Battle Ground (Wash.) on Monday.

Senior wing Josh Pecktol finished with 22 points and nine rebounds and senior guard Jordan Ellis added 19 points and seven rebounds for North Medford (6-0), which faces West Salem today at 7:45 p.m.

"Things are just clicking for us," Pecktol said. "We are very confident. We know we have a good team, we just have to show it. I don't think we've played our best game yet. Hopefully this tournament will prove that."

North Medford built a 14-point first-half lead and only added to that by controlling the glass and getting out in transition.

Pecktol was a major factor in helping the physical Black Tornado wear down a young Battle Ground team in the second half. He scored 14 points after halftime, including eight straight in the third quarter.

"He's developed into one heck of a player," Battle Ground coach Andy Schoonover said of Pecktol. "He plays so hard, he's so physical, and he goes after rebounds. He's a beast."

Pecktol and junior wing Matt Maurer — who had 14 rebounds — helped North to a 48-34 rebounding edge. The Black Tornado had 21 offensive rebounds.

North also held Battle Ground to just 19 points in the second half and forced 23 turnovers, many leading to easy transition baskets.

"The defensive end was really good and our rebounding was a factor," North coach Scott Plankenhorn said.

North took control early with a flurry of outside shots. Ellis led with 13 points in the first half and senior guard Tanner Borg added 11 as the Black Tornado found many easy looks against Battle Ground's zone defense.

The Black Tornado, which boasts the highest scoring offense in Class 6A at more than 73 points per game, only built its lead from there with a dominating effort in the second half.

"We struggled rebounding early, and they shot the ball really well, and it all piled up on us," said Schoonover, whose team returns just one player from last season and has five sophomores playing considerable minutes.

Senior guard Steven Conner led Battle Ground with 11 points. Senior guard Sean Dawkins added nine.

The Tigers shot 27 percent (13 of 49) from the floor while North was near 45 percent (29 of 65) and was 8 of 24 from 3-point range.

"I don't think we played as good as we could have," Ellis said.

Given Monday's result, that's a scary thought.

BATTLE GROUND (44) — Studer 8, Nielson 2, Conner 11, L. Brattin 0, Schwab 4, Dawkins 9, Hansen 2, K. Brattin 2, Bratcher 2, Belknap 4. Totals: 13 15-19 44.

NORTH MEDFORD (77) — Maurer 2, Clark 0, Faust 6, Ellis 19, Pecktol 22, Borg 13, Shipley 4, Formolo 4, Waits 3, Ross 4. Totals: 29 11-22 77.

Battle Ground 12 13 11 8 — 44

North Medford 17 22 16 22 — 77

3-point goals — Battle Ground 3 (Studer 2, Conner 1), North Medford 8 (Faust 2, Ellis 3, Borg 3).

Other Games

FRANKLIN 44, MCNARY 41 — Vlad Bahtjak hit a 3-pointer just before the final buzzer to lift Franklin into today's semifinals against Hillsboro.

Bahtjak, who led the Quakers with 17 points, got the ball with 2.5 seconds left and banked in the long-range jumper from just inside mid-court.

For McNary, J.J. Baisch had 17 points.

HILLSBORO 79, LAKERIDGE 61 — Hillsboro jumped out to a 21-10 first-quarter lead and was never challenged.

Brett Ball scored a team-high 15 points to lead five Hillsboro players in double figures.

WEST SALEM 43, RED BLUFF 37 — Junior point guard Andrew Saba tallied a game-high 24 points to spark West Salem past the California school.

The Titans held a 36-27 lead after three quarters and scored all seven points in the final period from the foul line.

Reach reporter Luke Andrewsat 776-4469, or e-mail landrews@mailtribune.com