By Mark Gilman
MaxPreps.com
The South Medford Panthers continued their impressive showing against top-notch competition from across the nation, winning the Bass Pro Basketball Tournament in Springfield, Mo., over the weekend.
South Medford, Oregon's top-ranked 6A team, is the first West Coast team to win the 23-year old tournament. Duke-bound forward Kyle Singler, who scored 36 points in the tournament championship game, was named MVP of the event. He and Panther point guard Michael Harthun were named to the all-tournament first team.
Backboard Gets No Love
Lake Oswego center Kevin Love made headlines with a dunk that forced his team to finish their weekend contest against Rex Putnam the next day.
Love shattered the backboard on a break away dunk just three minutes into the contest Friday night. The game was continued the next night at a nearby middle school and Love picked up where he left off, scoring 36 points total in the second-ranked Lakers' 69-38 victory. Earlier in the week, Lake Oswego cruised to a 60-point victory over Redmond, 102-42.
Shake Up in the Polls
Three top 10 6A teams suffered losses this past week. No. 6 McKay of Salem was upset by unranked West Linn, 67-62, while No. 8 Aloha fell to Prairie High of Washington, 66-61. No. 10 Sheldon lost in league play to South Medford, 61-52.
The just-released AP poll has South Medford still at No. 1, followed by Lake Oswego, Oregon City, Westview and Jesuit. Canby is now sixth, followed by Grant of Portland, West Linn, McKay and Aloha.
The top two teams in the AP's 5A classification posted wins last week. North Eugene defeated Marshfield and Thurston, while Corvallis crushed crosstown rival Crescent Valley.
Despite the victory, Corvallis fell one notch in the latest Associated Press poll. North Eugene remains No. 1, followed by Jefferson of Portland, Corvallis, Mountain View of Bend, and Churchill of Eugene. Hillsboro is in the sixth spot, Century seventh, Madras eighth, Silverton ninth, and Hermiston tenth.
Of Note: One special guest team made an appearance Monday at the King Classic basketball tournament in Portland, sponsored by former NBA star Terrell Brandon and the Portland Trailblazers. Moss Point, Miss., played in the annual event, thanks to the financial donations of former Blazer and Moss Point native Antonio Harvey, who paid for all the expenses to bring the Tigers to the Northwest.
Moss Point is located along Mississippi's Gulf Coast, which was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Players for the team called it a "second Christmas gift" to not only play on the Blazer's Rose Garden Arena floor, but also take in their first ever NBA game on Sunday night. Moss Point won their tournament game over Portland's Roosevelt High, 54-44.
