PHOENIX — With only one player back with varsity experience, this year's Phoenix boys basketball team is a drastically different version of the program that fell in last year's Class 4A state championship.

The newest cast of Pirates took a positive step in their growth with a 50-38 victory over 5A Ashland on Tuesday.

Senior Hunter Mahaffey led the way with 16 points and 18 rebounds. The 6-foot-2 forward knocked down six of his seven field-goal attempts, while teammate Tyson Morris (the squad's only returner) added nine points, three assists and three steals, including two crucial thefts in the fourth quarter. With his team holding just a 37-36 lead late in the game, Morris snagged back-to-back steals that led to Joe Raffensperger layups.

"We played a well-rounded game for the most part," Phoenix head coach Glenn Johannes said. "We are trying to get better and figure what our rotations are gonna be, and we're happy with the effort of everybody on the floor."

Phoenix (2-1), which was coming off a 51-38 loss to Del Norte on Saturday, led 28-26 at halftime and maintained its two-point advantage heading into the final period.

"The loss was a tough one for the kids," Johannes said. "They are learning how to lose a game like that and respond and come back to play on short rest."

Gabe Stanley led the Grizzlies (1-6) with 10 points.

ASHLAND (38) — Stanley 10, Walters 9, Fredrickson 8, Kaegi 8, Layton 3, Atteberry 0, Feinberg 0, Kandaris 0. Totals: 14 6-12 38.

PHOENIX (50) — Mahaffey 16, Raffensperger 10, Morris 9, Deras 8, Wyncoop 5, Janousek 2, Mayers 0, Leavens 0, Kotsios 0. Totals: 18 14-19 50.

Ashland 9 17 7 5 — 38

Phoenix 15 13 9 13 — 50

3-point goals — Ashland 4 (Fredrickson 1, Walters 1, Layton 1, Stanley 1).

JV result — Ashland won.

NORTH VALLEY 54, NORTH BEND 51 — At North Bend, North Bend held a four-point lead with 90 seconds remaining but back-to-back 3-pointers by Cameron Lyon and Chris Morsa lifted Class 4A second-ranked North Valley to the nonconference victory.

JJ Chirnside went for a game-high 20 points for the undefeated Knights (5-0).

NORTH VALLEY (54) — Chirnside 20, Lyon 11, Morsa 7, McCue 5, Tappan 4, Burke 4, Olmstead 3, Bodica 0, Pina 0. Totals: 22 6-8 54.

NORTH BEND (51) — Roane 15, Lucero 10, Mateski 12, Barker 6, Matthews 5, Davisson 3, Cunningham 0. Totals: 16 13-19 51.

North Valley 10 13 17 14 — 54

North Bend 5 13 20 13 — 51

3-point goals — North Valley 4 (Olmstead 1, Morsa 1, Lyon 1, Chirnside 1), North Bend 6 (Roane 2, Barker 2, Matthews 1, Davisson 1). Fouled out — McCue, Burke.

JV score — North Valley 53, North Bend 32.

EAGLE POINT 57, KLAMATH UNION 44 — At Eagle Point, Jorge Quintero scored 19 points to lead Eagle Point in nonleague action.

Justin Hartman recorded 13 points for the Eagles (2-2), who led 29-16 at halftime.

Hunter Bradford had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Klamath Union (3-3), which committed 23 turnovers.

KLAMATH UNION (44) — Bell 4, Mitchell 5, Butler 5, Aispuro 4, Stroh 0, Bradford 14, Depew 6, Willis 4, Paschal 2. Totals: 18 5-15 44.

EAGLE POINT (57) — Barber 1, James 8, Quintero 19, Hartman 13, Edwards 5, Dixon 0, Zerger 5, Rittiman 0, Holmes 6. Totals: 16 21-32 57.

Klamath Union 9 7 6 22 — 44

Eagle Point 16 13 9 19 — 57

3-point goals — Klamath Union 3 (Butler 1, Mitchell 1, Bradford 1), Eagle Point 4 (Quintero 2, James 1, Zerger 1). Fouled out — Bell, Mitchell, Aispuro, Edwards.

GRANTS PASS 65, SOUTH SALEM 63 — At Salem, Dylan Strempel's 22 points and Micah Johnson's 14 led Grants Pass (2-5) in nonconference action.

GRANTS PASS (65) — Strempel 22, Johnson 14, Brooks 8, Luther 9, Busald 5, Musser 2, Brennan 5. Totals: 20 21-29 65.

SOUTH SALEM (63) — Large 29, Fohn 8, Huld 12, James 6, Matthews 8. Totals: 22 14-19 63.

Grants Pass 20 12 5 28 — 65

South Salem 14 12 15 22 — 63

3-point goals — Grants Pass 4 (Brooks 1,"ˆStrempel 2, Busald 1), South Salem 3 (Fohn 2, Huld 1). Fouled out — Matthews, Huld.

JV score — South Salem 62, Grants Pass 56.

TULELAKE 61, ST. MARY'S 47 — At Tulelake, Calif., St. Mary's turned the ball over 13 times in the first half and 22 times overall en route to the nonleague loss.

Kade Benton led St. Mary's (3-4) with 16 points, while Michael Gambee had 11 and Connor Vinyard 10.

Trako Salsukin scored 15 for Tulelake.

ST. MARY'S (47) — Benton 16, Marchini 5, Gambee 11, Lewis 1, Vinyard 10, Crennen 4, Alvarez 0, Conway 0, Chen 0, Li 0. Totals: 18 5-8 47.

TULELAKE (61) — Burrier 3, Reyes 12, Idrogo 14, Gonzalez 3, Herman 14, Saluskin 15, Massey 0. Totals: 26 7-12 61.

St. Mary's 9 6 19 13 — 47

Tulelake 14 15 17 15 — 61

3-point goals — St. Mary's 6 (Marchini 1, Gambee 3, Benton 2), Tulelake 5 (Idrogo 1, Saluskin 3, Reyes 1).

JV score — St. Mary's 57, Tulelake 32.

ROGUE RIVER 43, ETNA 37 — At Rogue River, Shawn Donahue scored 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had eight steals as Rogue River rallied in the second half for its first victory of the season.

The Chieftains (1-4) trailed 21-14 at halftime.

Andy Valencia, a Rogue River senior point guard, chipped in 11 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals.

The Chiefs had 19 steals and just nine turnovers and outrebounded the California school, 31-26.

ETNA (37) — DelaRosa 16, Murphy 0, Munson 0, Greene 4, Berry 6, Murray 9, Krueger 2, Hausauer 0. Totals: 16 2-3 37.

ROGUE RIVER (43) — Donahue 18, Valencia 11, Campbell 4, Ehrhardt 0, Strickland 0, Perston 4, Schmidt 2, Milligan 0, Gretz 2, Lawson 2. Totals: 15 9-17 43.

Etna 13 8 8 8 — 37

Rogue River 10 4 12 17 — 43

3-point goals — Etna 3 (DelaRosa 2, Murray 1), Rogue River 4 (Valencia 2, Donahue 1, Perston 1). Fouled out — Greene

JV score — Rogue River 44, Etna 37.

NEW HOPE CHRISTIAN 59, ILLINOIS VALLEY 54 — At Cave Junction, Dereak Albright and Austin Abbott combined for 46 points as New Hope Christian secured the nonleague road victory.

Abbott scored 13 of his 27 points in the second quarter, securing the 11-point halftime lead for New Hope (2-2).

Chaise Robbins finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds for Illinois Valley (2-3).

NEW HOPE CHRISTIAN (59) — Abbott 27, Albright 19, Hutlema 10, Shields 1, Merlos 2, Laird 0. Totals: 22 10-21 59.

ILLINOIS VALLEY (54) — Robbins 16, Hoezele 4, Sanchez 11, Epple 11, Welch 5, Thompson 3, Davis 4. Totals: 20 10-19 54.

New Hope Christian 17 22 10 10 — 59

Illinois Valley 17 11 8 18 — 54

3-point goals — New Hope Christian 5 (Abbott 3, Hutlema 1, Albright 1), Illinois Valley 3 (Sanchez 1, Robbins 1, Thompson1). Fouled out — Albright. Technical fouls — Illinois Valley coach Winters.

JV result — Illinois Valley won.