By Mark Gilman
MaxPreps.com
It was a game featuring Oregon's top two basketball players and best two teams.
While Lake Oswego's Kevin Love out-dueled South Medford's Kyle Singler individually, it was Singler's team that took home the big prize, as the Panthers topped the Lakers 58-54 in the OSAA 6A Championship Game before a capacity crowd over over 9,000 at McArthur Court in Eugene.
Love scored 37 points, including 24-straight for his team during one stretch of the game, and ended his career as Oregon's all-time leading scorer with 2,628 points. But no other Laker was in double digits for the game.
Singler had just 18 points, but Panther teammates Michael Harthun (24 points) and Van Dellenback-Oulette (12 points) provided South Medford with the scoring punch needed to avenge last year's title game loss to Lake Oswego.
Love and Singler frequently defended each other during the contest, with the heavier Love, headed for UCLA, finding the advantage at the glass. Singler, a Duke recruit, drove past his opponent time and time again. Singler got into early foul trouble when he picked up his third personal late in the second quarter, and was forced to sit most of the last three minutes of the half. Still, his Panthers had a 24-23 edge at the break.
The game remained tight in the third quarter, with Singler going back to the bench over the last 2 « minutes after picking up his fourth foul. But Harthun, who finished 5-5 from three-point range, hit a long-range jumper and a couple of lay ups to push the Panther lead to 42-37 heading into the final period.
In the fourth quarter, Lake Oswego rallied to tie the game thanks to buckets by Love and two Panther turnovers. Neither team was able to build to a lead larger than five points the rest of the way.
Dellenback-Outlette sealed the victory for South Medford with two free throws with 12.5 seconds left . Lake Oswego could only get off a wild shot at the end of the game and the Panthers ran out the clock.
South Medford ended the season 27-3. Lake Oswego was 26-2 on the year, with both losses coming to the Panthers.
5A Championship: North Eugene finished an undefeated season and won its first state championship since NBA standout Danny Ainge led the Highlanders to back-to-back crowns in 1976-77, beating Roosevelt of Portland, 38-28, in Eugene.
Roosevelt had gone even longer than North Eugene in its state championship game drought. The Roughriders last played in a title game in 1949.
The game was closer than the final score indicated, as Roosevelt rallied from a double-digit deficit to within 30-28 with a little over four minutes remaining. But the Roughriders missed their last seven shots.
North Eugene's 6-8 junior post Brian Conklin, who has committed to play at Gonzaga, had 18 points and three blocks. Xavier Taylor had nine points for Roosevelt.