After claiming 6A bragging rights last season, South Medford's girls basketball team has been lurking in the shadows for the first two months of this season.
The third-ranked Panthers (9-2, 1-0 Southwest Conference) were forced to pull out of the POA Holiday Classic – which was loaded with 6A contenders – and have spent much of their time scrambling to pick up games against quality opponents.
But after going 23 days between games, South Medford is in the midst of a revealing stretch that will include nine games in 17 days. The Panthers started it with a three-game road trip to California and will finish it with a three-game swing in the Portland area this week.
“Losing games obviously hurts,” coach Tom Cole said of the cancellations. “The need to travel, we've always had to be confronted by that. It just worked out that we were able to pick up some games. At the end of the season, you've got to be playing your best basketball, no matter who it is, and how you get there.”
South Medford showed that it remains a formidable force Friday by winning 74-45 at 5A No. 1 Willamette, handing the freshman-dominated Wolverines their first loss. Junior guard Donovyn Hunter and 6-foot-3 senior forward Sierra Logue scored 25 and 22 points, respectively, in the win.
This week will show much more about the Panthers as they visit No. 5 Jesuit (13-1) on Thursday, No. 6 Benson (7-3) on Friday and No. 7 Mountainside (9-5) on Saturday. The trip will serve as a replacement of sorts for what they missed at the POA Holiday Classic.
“That's a tough one,” Cole said of the trip. “It's not ideal to play three really good teams in a row, but on the other end of it, if you're going to be meaningful in March, you're going to have to play three really good teams in a row. It's going to be a good opportunity for us to see some teams that are always formidable.”
South Medford graduated six players, and three starters, from a team that won the elite Maroon bracket of the Portland area culminating week tournament in June. The Panthers' two returning starters are Hunter, one of the top junior recruits on the West Coast, and Logue, who has committed to UC Riverside.
The 5-10 Hunter, who missed her freshman season while recovering from a torn ACL, has been outstanding this season. She is averaging 25.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 steals while shooting 60 percent from the field, including 34 percent on three-pointers (13 for 38), and 90 percent on free throws.
Hunter has a handful of Division I scholarship offers, including Oregon State and Arizona State, and is talking with Oregon and Stanford, among others, according to Cole.
“She's really made huge strides,” Cole said of Hunter, who scored 35 points in a season-opening win over St. Mary's Academy. “In our run last season, she was important in all the big games. She really stood up when the competition mattered the most. Now that we lost six seniors, she's grown even more.
“She's healthier, she's got much more confidence. As a result, she's back to being a very coveted kid. Those injuries set her back, but she's really rehabbed and put herself in a great position to be productive.”
Logue also has cranked up her game a notch. She gives South Medford a dominant inside presence, averaging 15.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks.
The Panthers suffered a setback during the holiday break when senior Tanesha Coley, a starting forward, tore her ACL in practice and is out for the season. Coley, a rotation player last season, has received college interest.
“She had some great games early,” Cole said. “Really tough kid, and a kid who just did a lot of things well.”
Senior guard Lottie Dillard is averaging 8.0 points and 4.7 rebounds. She scored 19 points in a 67-59 loss to Lincoln of Stockton (Calif.) at a tournament Dec. 15.
The loss to Lincoln was South Medford's first since falling to No. 4 Clackamas 58-56 on Dec. 4.
jerryu@osaa.org
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