Preview: South Medford Panthers vs. Willamette Wolverines
South Medford is 8-2 against Willamette since January of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The South Medford Panthers will head out on the road to take on the Willamette Wolverines at 6:45 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (South Medford has four straight wins, Willamette has six straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
South Medford posted their closest victory yet this season on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged North Medford out 54-52. Given South Medford's advantage in MaxPreps' Oregon basketball rankings (they are ranked 20th, while North Medford is ranked 135th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Willamette suffered their biggest loss since December 27, 2023 on Saturday. They suffered a tough 80-60 loss at the hands of South Eugene. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their last game on Friday (55), Willamette still had to take the loss.
South Medford pushed their record up to 10-6 with that victory, which was their fifth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.4 points per game. As for Willamette, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-16.
South Medford was able to grind out a solid win over Willamette when the teams last played back in February of 2023, winning 62-52. Does South Medford have another victory up their sleeve, or will Willamette turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
