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SHELDON HOOP NOTES:

Sheldon knocks off South Medford 54-48; hosts Grants Pass tomorrow--

Sheldon came from behind to defeat South Medford 54-48 in an important SWC contest at Sheldon Friday to finish the second round of league play alone in third place with a 5-5 record.

The Irish play their next four games in Eugene with three of them at home starting tomorrow against Grants Pass. The Irish and Lady Cavers have split games in the first two rounds of league play this season, each team winning at home.

In Friday's win, the Irish started slowly and fell behind the Panthers early as South Medford led 18-9 at the end of the first quarter and by 13 points midway through the second before Sheldon finished the half and started the third quarter with a 21-0 run to storm past the visitors. South led 26-13 before Sheldon came back to take a 34-26 point advantage in the third quarter. From there, the contest tightened up and the Irish held off a late Panther charge for the win.

Nine Irish players scored in the game and no one reached double figures in a balanced scoring effort. Alisen Hinton hit three of four free throws late in the game and led Sheldon scorers with nine points. Chloe Stiles and Cymone Martin added eight points each and Martin snared 13 rebounds against the much bigger South Medford team. Freshman Leah Nicklason came off the bench to grab eight rebounds and help defend the big SM posts.

The difference in the game came down to free throw shooting as Sheldon was 12/24 compared to South's 2/13 from the line. Sheldon won the game despite shooting only 32% from the field (19/59), and only 4/18 three-point attempts. The Irish outrebounded the taller Panthers for the second game in a row.

South Medford freshman Kaylie Towry scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Panther effort, many on transition baskets.

South Medford (48): Vargas 2, Towry 23, Tago, Becker 1, Curtius 4, Hubbard 6, Mejia 5, T.Picknell 4, H.Picknell 2.

Sheldon (54): Hinton 9, Fisher 2, Barclay, Land 3, Rodrigues 7, Martin 8, Crosby, Hauser 7, Stiles 8, Clark 6, Nicklason 4, McConville.

South Medford: 18 8 14 8 - 48

Sheldon: 9 15 18 12 - 54

Irish JVs knock off Panthers -- Sheldon shot 80% from the free throw line (17/21) and defeated South Medford for the second time this season, 59-45. Amanda Barclay knocked down 13 points in limited action to lead Sheldon scorers and Hannah Smith added 10 points, including 8/9 from the line. Sophia Roberts grabbed eight rebounds as the Irish improved their record to 14-5, 8-2 in the SWC.

SWC Standings

South Eugene  10-0

South Medford  7-3

Sheldon  5-5

North Medford  4-6

Grants Pass  3-7

Roseburg  1-9

Irish upset South Medford girls

EUGENE — Poor shooting doomed South Medford in a Southwest Conference girls basketball contest against host Sheldon Friday.

Kylie Towry had a big night, but the South Medford freshman got little support as the Irish came away with a 54-48 victory over the Panthers.

Towry, the SWC second-leading scorer, poured in a game-high 23 points. No other Panther player had more than six points.

Towry helped South get off to a fast start with eight points in the opening quarter, then she had nine of the team's 14 third-quarter points.

"(Towry) really stepped up," said South Medford coach Tom Cole. "She was aggressive."

The Panthers shot just 28 percent from the field and were a paltry 2-for-13 from the foul line.

To compound matters, sophomore post Tess Picknell was forced to the bench when she picked up her third foul midway through the second quarter and post Leilani Morris missed the game because of illness. In an earlier game against Sheldon, Morris had 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Panthers (15-6, 7-3 SWC) held a 26-24 halftime margin before Sheldon took command by scoring the first eight points of the second half.

"We received no point production in the post when (Picknell) was out," said Cole. "We tried to adjust to what we were doing defensively but we were out of sync."

Sheldon (8-12, 5-5) had five players with seven points or more, led by Alisen Hinton with nine. Cymone Martin added eight points and 13 rebounds.

SOUTH MEDFORD (48) — Towry 23, Vargas 2, Tago 0, Becker 1, Curtius 4, Hubbard 6, Mejia 5, T. Picknell 4, H. Picknell 2. Totals: 21 2-13 48.

SHELDON (54) — Hinton 9, Fisher 2, Barclay 0, Land 3, Rodrigues 7, Martin 8, Crosby 0, Hauser 7, Stiles 8, Clark 6, Nicklason 4, McConville 0. Totals: 19 12-24 54

South Medford 18 8 14 8 — 48

Sheldon 9 15 18 12 — 54

3-point goals — South Medford 4 (Towry 3, Mejia 1), Sheldon 4 (Hinton 2, Land 1, Stiles 1).

JV result — Sheldon won.

SOUTH EUGENE 66, NORTH MEDFORD 35 — Host North Medford (10-9, 4-6 SWC) turned the ball over 29 times against No. 2-ranked South Eugene's full-court press.

South Eugene's pressure defense fueled a 22-6 first-quarter run. The Axemen (17-3, 10-0 SWC) shot 61 percent from the field, led by senior post MacKenzie Kerins' 18 points.

Alyssa Maurer paced North with 11 points and four rebounds.

SOUTH EUGENE (66) — Witherspoon 5, Kiplinger 3, Cook 9, Brabender 6, Severson 3, Tenity 8, Kerins 18, Prull 8, Vanderkley 0, Henshaw 0, Shivers 8. Totals: 27-47 7-12 66.

NORTH MEDFORD (35) — Straub 2, Maurer 11, Peters 6, Allen 0, Bartley 2, Dixon 6, McMillen 2, Williamson 0, Hogue 0, Murphy 6. Totals: 13-33 5-6 35.

South Eugene 22 16 16 12 — 66

North Medford 6 11 8 10 — 35

3-point goals — South Eugene 5 (Kiplinger 1, Cook 1, Brabender 1, Severson 1, Tenity 1), North Medford 4 (Maurer 2, Dixon 2).

JV result — South Eugene won.

GRANTS PASS 41, ROSEBURG 37 — At Grants Pass, Heather Wonsyld knocked down key free throws in the fourth quarter to keep Roseburg at bay. Wonsyld registered 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Cavers (7-11, 3-7 SWC), who never relinquished the lead in the fourth period.

ROSEBURG — Baumgartner 12, Alspaugh 9, Snook 9, Hutchins 3, Underwood 2, Wafer 2, Anderson 0, Torres 0. Totals: 14 4-6 37.

GRANTS PASS — Wonsyld 16, Johnson 9, Edgar 5, Smith 5, Aguilera 3, Soares 2, Ward 1, Bath 0. Totals: 15 9-18 41.

Roseburg 5 13 8 11 — 37

Grants Pass 12 7 11 11 — 41

3-point goals — Roseburg 5 (Alspaugh 3, Snook 2), Grants Pass 2 (Aguilera 1, Smith 1).

JV score — Roseburg 42, Grants Pass 26.