The focus for the South Medford boys basketball team was on finishing strong against visiting Willamette Tuesday in Southwest Conference play.
Robbie Patterson lent a hand in that regard.
Patterson made all five of his free throws in overtime and the Panthers (5-8, 1-1 SWC) triumphed, 64-59.
South Medford played well Friday in a 60-55 loss to South Eugene and “could have beat those guys,” said coach James Wightman.
“Tonight,” he said, “we talked to our kids about finishing games. We could have easily given this game away and we didn’t. A win is a win, and it’s experience for our younger guys.”
South Medford led 55-52 until Seth Skeele made a 3-pointer for the Wolverines (6-8, 0-2) to tie it with 19 seconds left. The Panthers next turned the ball over without attempting a shot.
Patterson then went to work in overtime and wound up with 10 points in a balanced attack. Sherman Hunter scored 11, Trent DeBoer 10 and Nick Randleman had nine.
Jesse Higgins, South Medford’s 6-foot-9 senior post, had seven rebounds and six blocks to go with seven points. He was slowed by illness.
Thomas Fealey contributed six assists in the win.
Owen Cross led Willamette (6-8, 0-2) with 20 points.
WILLAMETTE (59): Skeele 5, Cross 20, Bridge-Eiler 1, Burke 4, J. Smith 0, Curtis 17, Reichenberger 9, Arnold 3. Totals: 20 12-23 59.
SOUTH MEDFORD (64): Hunter 11, A. Boster 3, DeBoer 10, Patterson 10, T. Boster 3, Losinski 3, Fealey 2, English 6, Randleman 9, Higgins 7. Totals: 23 10-16 64.
Willamette;12;12;19;12;4;—;59
South Medford;11;12;19;13;9;—;64
3-point goals — Willamette 7 (Skeele 1, Cross 3, Curtis 2, Arnold 1), South Medford 8 (Hunter 2, DeBoer 2, Patterson 1, T. Boster 1, Randleman 1, Higgins 1). Fouled out — Reichenberger.
JV result — Willamette won.
GRANTS PASS 58, SOUTH EUGENE 52: At Grants Pass, Tyler Rund and Taylor Anderson each scored 16 points to help Grants Pass stun SWC favorite South Eugene.
Tayler Phillips added 10 points for the Cavemen (8-5, 2-0), who moved atop the SWC standings with North Medford idle.
Jay Elmore had 18 points to pace South Eugene (6-8, 1-1).
SOUTH EUGENE (52): Elmore 18, Graves 15, Soifer 10, Harris 3, Mitchell 2, Lininger 2, Leonard 1, McAnich 1, Berryman 0, Clark 0, Boettcher 0. Totals: 22 2-4 52.
GRANTS PASS (58): Rund 16, Anderson 16, Phillips 10, Rich 8, Lopez 6, Johnson 2, Rucker 0, Lackey 0. Totals: 23 10-17 58.
South Eugene;8;12;18;14;—;52
Grants Pass;14;13;17;14;—;58
3-point goals — South Eugene 6 (Graves 3, Elmore 2, Harris), Grants Pass 2 (Anderson 2).
JV result — South Eugene won.
THURSTON 77, ASHLAND 53: At Eugene, Sterling Minor scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half to help Thurston take a 45-28 lead into the break as the Colts rebounded from a Midwestern League-opening loss to Marist.
Ashland junior guard KJ Pippa went off for 18 points in the opening half but was held to five the rest of the way as the Grizzlies suffered their sixth consecutive loss to fall to 4-8 overall, 0-2 in the MWL.
Also for Ashland, Adam Jones had 10 points and Anthony Swanson six.
For Thurston (9-2, 1-1), Isaac Lange added 15 points.
ASHLAND (53): Pippa 23, Swanson 6, Wallner-Sentle 3, Ekwall 4, A. Jones 10, Desmond 2, Saulsbury 3, C. Jones 2, Shibley 0, Harris 0. Totals: 18 11-22 53.
THURSTON (77): Minor 20, Crist 4, Connor 14, Lange 15, Miller 13, Haas 11, White 0, Harrison 0, Powell 0, Kommer 0, Edmison 0, Pederson 0, Starck 0. Totals: 30 14-21 77.
Ashland;13;15;11;14;—;53
Thurston;21;24;15;17;—;77
3-point goals — Ashland 6 (Pippa 3, A. Jones 2, Saulsbury 1), Thurston 3 (Connor 2, Lange 1).
JV result — Thurston 67, Ashland 35.
HIDDEN VALLEY 52, PHOENIX 44: At Murphy, Phoenix built an eight-point lead in the third quarter but couldn’t hang on in the Skyline Conference contest.
The Pirates (3-12, 0-1 Sky) got 12 points from Ethan Hutsell and nine each from David Lozano Reyes and Braeden Watts.
Kolton Fisher scored 16 for Hidden Valley (6-9, 1-0).
ST. MARY’S 61, LAKEVIEW 52: At Lakeview, St. Mary’s Tre Foster pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds to go with seven points, six assists and five blocks, paving the way for the Crusaders’ first win in the Southern Cascade League.
Nathan Sternenberg and Jakab Bowling scored 16 points apiece for St. Mary’s (6-10, 1-1 SCL), while Gabe Mayer added 14 points and four steals. Sternenberg also grabbed seven boards.
Jaren Lampman led all scores with 21 for Lakeview, which led by two points at halftime but was outscored 25-14 by the Crusaders in the third.
ST. MARY’S (61): Miles 0, Mayer 14, Sternenberg 16, Grant 3, Silsbee 4, Bowling 16, Reynolds 1, Foster 7. Totals: 22 14-24 61.
LAKEVIEW (52): Maita 6, Brazeal 14, Petersen 0, Lampman 21, Greenfield 2, Steward 0, Decker 6, Patzke 3. Totals: 16 16-24 52.
St. Mary’s;11;9;25;16;—;61
Lakeview;11;11;14;16;—;52
3-point goals — St. Mary’s 3 (Mayer 1, Grant 1, Bowling 1), Lakeview 4 (Brazeal 2, Lampman 2).
RV ADVENTIST 62, CHILOQUIN 51: Isaiah Christensen generated 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for host Rogue Valley Adventist, which came on in the second half for the Mountain Valley League triumph.
Christensen made six of his 14 free throws in the fourth quarter where the Red Tail Hawks (7-7, 2-3 MVL) were able to turn a two-point lead into an 11-point advantage by the end of the third quarter.
RVA freshman Caleb Jackson dropped in 16 points while both Marcus Wiggers and Malachi Sitowski corralled nine rebounds. Wiggers also had eight points.
CANYONVILLE CHRISTIAN 60, PROSPECT 23: At Canyonville, Prospect dropped the nonleague game, moving its record to 1-9 overall.
Brendan Raines scored 10 points and Jordan Royce seven for the Cougars.