Varsity 541

Phoenix bounces Newport

First-round win sends Pirates up against defending champion Sutherlin

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NEWPORT — Danielle Smith scored a season-high 24 points and the Phoenix girls basketball team won its first playoff game since 2005 with a 58-50 victory against Newport on Wednesday.

Chelsea Passante had 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Kelsey George added 12 points and six assists for the Pirates (19-7), who face defending state champion Sutherlin, winners of 37 straight games, on Saturday in a Class 4A second-round game.

"We've got a little bit of a challenge ahead of us," Phoenix coach Randy Kirkland said with a chuckle. "This (game against Newport) gave us a good game, a good warm-up for Sutherlin. They matched up well with us."

Phoenix led by 11 at halftime against Newport (13-11), despite the Cubs' 12 offensive rebounds in the first half.

"We really thought we should have been up by more," Kirkland said. "Then we came out lackluster to start the third."

Newport trimmed the deficit to six heading into the fourth as Phoenix began to settle for outside shots in the third quarter. The Pirates shot eight free throws in the first half — 15 in the game — but did not attempt one in the third.

Newport got within three in the fourth quarter before consecutive 3-pointers by Smith and Passante pushed the lead to nine with nearly five minutes remaining, and the Cubs were unable to mount another run.

Amanda Craycraft led Newport with 21 points.

Smith had nine of Phoenix's 20 points in the first quarter.

"We really thought a key was to get the ball out and push it," Kirkland said. "That's what she (Smith) did. We figured our speed is kind of our key. I thought we did a great job of getting out on the break. I was very pleased with that."

The Pirates will be looking to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2003 when they travel to Sutherlin.

The two teams met earlier this season with Sutherlin winning 50-43 at Phoenix on Dec. 29. The Pirates trailed 33-30 before an 8-0 run helped the Bulldogs pull away.

"It was a really good game," Kirkland said. "In that game, we had trouble screening out. They are a big team. That was the difference. We've got two days to get in some rebounding."

PHOENIX (58) — Smith 24, George 12, Passante 13, Bradfield 7, Hendricks 2, Helm 0, Engle 0, Tally 0, Heath 0. Totals: 20 13-15 58.

NEWPORT (50) — Craycraft 21, Losier 6, Moore 7, Johnson 4, Luther 8, Hogan 4, Kennedy 0, Clark 0. Totals: 20 6-12 50.

Phoenix 20 13 9 16 — 58

Newport 13 9 14 14 — 50

3-point goals — Phoenix 5 (Passante 3, Smith 2), Newport 4 (Craycraft 4).

S.O. League Hockey

CRATER 9, SOUTH MEDFORD 6 — Jake Randol scored four goals and Bryce Crawford had six points as Crater kept its season alive in the Southern Oregon League playoffs at The RRRink.

Freshman goalie Lucas Paulsen made 34 saves for the Comets, who beat the Panthers for the fourth time in five meetings this season. Fourth-seeded Crater will face second-seeded Churchill in the semifinals on Friday, with the winner to meet top-seeded Ashland in the championship game on Saturday.

Randol had two first-period tallies to stake Crater (9-7-2) to the lead and then either Crawford or Daniel Gomez, who had two goals and two assists, would score each time the Panthers tried to mount a rally.

Dane Irving scored five goals for the Panthers (9-8-1), and goalie Brandon Andrews made 32 saves.

South Medford 0 3 3 — 6

Crater 2 3 4 — 9

ASHLAND 4, CHURCHILL 2 — Ashland advanced to the championship game for the second consecutive season by extending its winning streak to eight games in action at The RRRink.

Ashland opened the season 8-0-0 before losing twice to the Lancers in Eugene in late January. Churchill will meet Crater in an elimination semifinal on Friday. The winner of that game would need to beat Ashland twice to claim the crown.