PREP HOOPS: Panthers win opener in Hawaii

Dec. 9—HONOLULU — There were no signs of jet lag for the South Medford girls basketball team's opener in Hawaii on Thursday night.

South Medford opened on a 15-0 run within the game's first four minutes and never looked back in a 72-52 win over Konawaena in the opening round of the Iolani Classic.

"I just think we came out ready to play," said South Medford head coach Tom Cole. "Defensively, we got some good pressure and I think we played pretty fast and we played quickly. They have a 35-second shot clock at this tournament and it's a pretty great atmosphere. We played a Hawaiian team, it's a pretty live crowd in a small gym with a great atmosphere. I thought our kids stepped up, and for many of them this is their first time playing in an event like this."

Senior guard Donovyn Hunter scored 16 points to go with six steals to lead South (3-0), which was ranked fifth in this week's Class 6A coaches' poll.

Fellow seniors Tatum Schmerbach (12 points) and Kendall Fealey (11 points) also scored in double figures while freshman Mayen Akpan had nine rebounds off the bench for the Panthers, who will face Carondelet of Concord, Calif., in the semifinals Friday night.

The Cougars improved to 6-0 this season with their win over Damien (Hawaii) on Thursday night.

"After the first round, anything in the semifinals is going to be great," said Cole. "With the quality of competition that's here, there's no easy ones from here on out. Even our first game, even though we got off to a good roll, (Konawaena) was capable of making a comeback. And they did — they had some surges in the first half when we had different lineup changes.

"We've got to figure out a way to play four good quarters of good basketball. We're not consistent in all four quarters yet, and to beat these good teams we're going to have find a way to do that. That's part of the growing pains."

SOUTH MEDFORD (72): Richardson 2, Taulani 4, Hunter 16, Young 6, S. Schmerbach 7, Ceron 5, Barlow 0, Howell 5, Akpan 4, T. Schmerbach 12, Fealey 11. Totals: 29 6-14 72.

KONAWAENA (52): Leleiwi 10, Yamasaki 2, Meyer 7, Hiraishi 3, Kauhi 3, Molina 9, Salazar-Harrell 0, B. Kauhi 16, Galletes 0. Totals: 19 4-7 52.

South Medford22211712— 72

Konawaena11101615— 52

3-point goals — South Medford 8 (Hunter 2, S. Schmerbach 1, Fealey 1, T. Schmerbach 2, Howell 1, Young 1), Konawaena 6 (B. Kauhi 2, Molina 1, A. Kauhi 1, Hiraishi 1, Meyer 1).

GRANTS PASS 40, SPANISH SPRINGS (NEV.) 25: At Spanish Springs, Nev., Grants Pass was able to overcome a two-point second quarter and outscored Spanish Springs 18-3 in the third to pick up the nonleague win.

Brooke Anderson scored seven of her 11 points in the third quarter to allow the undefeated Cavers (4-0) to retake the lead after holding a slim 11-10 advantage after the first period.

Grants Pass' Brooklyn Wakefield added seven points.

GRANTS PASS (40): Brandes 4, Kleiner 4, Anderson 11, Thompson 4, Bruner 2, K. Wakefield 0, Pastrell 0, Mock 6, Vainuku-Johnson 0, Jimenez 0, B. Wakefield 7, Hull 2. Totals: 16 6-10 40.

SPANISH SPRINGS (25): Hallert 1, Noonkester 6, Ernst 0, Bone 7, Wakefield 0, Hayes 6, Graham 2, Elsfeider 0, Abbie 3. Totals: 11 2-8 25.

Grants Pass112189— 40

Spanish Springs10339— 25

3-point goals — Grants Pass 2 (Anderson 1, Mock 1), Spanish Springs 1 (Bone 1).

RV ADVENTIST 54, LOWELL 17: Rogue Valley Adventist used an 18-2 run in the second quarter and a stout defense overall to run its nonleague record to 3-0 with the home victory.

Emma Bischoff contributed 24 points and 10 rebounds and Michaela Porter had 14 points, nine rebounds and five steals for the Red Tail Hawks, who led 29-5 at halftime.

Isabell Zamora added six points, eight assists and seven steals for RVA.

Boys

DOUGLAS (NEV.) 69, ASHLAND 63, 2OT: At South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Eyera Nogues hit a 3-pointer in the waning seconds of regulation to send the South Lake Tahoe Invitational game into overtime and Azure McNamara knocked down another late shot beyond the arc to force a second OT but Ashland ran out of steam in the closely contested matchup.

Izzy Golden came out hot with 10 first-quarter points to lead the Grizzlies (2-2) early on and finished with 19. Nogues scored 15 points on five 3-pointers and McNamara scored six of his nine points in the first OT.

ASHLAND (63): Stowasser 6, Golden 19, Wright 8, Cooper 0, Thompson 6, Nogues 15, Hermogenes 0, McNamara 9.

DOUGLAS (69): J. Reid 20, Flory 2, Thacker 6, Ward 0, T. Reid 15, Pitts 6, Estes 2, Enos 0, Lehmann 4, McDowell 10, Koontz 2, Torres 0, Dame 0, Tolbert 2.

Ashland219 10 12 11 0— 63

Douglas1815 9 10 11 6— 69

3-point goals — Ashland 13 (Stowasser 2, Golden 3, Nogues 5, McNamara 3), Douglas 9 (Reid 3, Thacker 2, Pitty 2, McDowell 2). Fouled out — Wright, Nogues.