Coach Tim Karrick's North Medford girls basketball squad returns five starters — three of which earned all-Southern Oregon Conference accolades a year ago — from a team that narrowly missed the postseason.
Any other year, and in almost any other Class 6A conference, the Black Tornado would be an odds-on favorite to win a league title.
Yet the seventh-ranked and currently unbeaten Black Tornado didn't get a sniff of the top spot in a preseason coaches' poll for the new Southwest Conference.
The reason?
Sheldon and South Eugene, both former members of the Midwestern League, and SOC remnants Roseburg and Grants Pass, all playoff teams a year ago, also return a majority of their lineups in a quest for the first SWC title.
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The eighth-ranked Irish, who took SOC co-champion Ashland to the wire in a playoff game last year, was a unanimous choice in the poll.
Roseburg, which received one of the six first-place votes, was picked second, while North Medford and South Eugene tied for third and Grants Pass and South Medford were selected to finish fifth and sixth, respectively. Coaches couldn't vote for their own team.
The six SWC teams will be fighting for four state-playoff berths.
"I think it's a mirror image of what happened in football," says South Eugene coach Jim Denker of the competitive SWC gridiron campaign. "There were five pretty good teams, and someone's going to miss out. I have a hunch that will happen here."
SWC teams will play each other three times to make up a 15-game schedule.
"Playing each team three times is a true challenge," says Sheldon coach Luke Roth, who is now in his 23rd year with the team, "and it is my opinion that the league champion won't come out unscathed — maybe up to three losses could win it."
Sheldon seems to have all the pieces to make a run.
The Irish return three starters in junior 5-foot-11 wing Katie Steigleman, a second-team Midwestern League performer last season, 6-0 post Theresa Brown and 5-11 senior wing Kendra Little.
Sheldon also possesses plenty of size, with five players 5-11 or taller.
Roseburg welcomes back four starters from a team that went 21-5 a year ago.
Leading the way for the Indians will be versatile senior post Julie Piper and slippery point guard Katie Wilton.
North Medford (6-0) boasts one of the more talented and versatile starting lineups in the league.
Junior 5-11 post Erica Schultz and 6-2 senior post Lauren Berger combine to form a formidable duo in the paint.
In the backcourt and on the wing, senior point guard Rachel Barry provides a strong perimeter game, while junior Whitney Hodnett lends an all-around skill set that will be tough to defend. Senior Megan Ross also has a soft outside touch to go with an aggressive, ballhawking defensive approach.
"This is one of the most athletic teams I've had since I've been here," says Karrick, now in his fifth season with North. "It's just a bunch of unselfish kids who love to play together."
South Eugene, which along with Grants Pass earned a state tourney berth last season, welcomes back four starters and should be right in the playoff mix.
Junior 5-11 post Sarah Whitfield leads a balanced offensive attack for Axemen.
"We only lost one senior," says Denker, who won state championships with South Eugene in 1987 and '99. "And we were very young and inexperienced last year."
Grants Pass boasts returning starters Natasha Torgerson, a sophomore wing, senior guard Brianne Hurst and junior post Gabby Randall.
The Cavers have also gotten big production in nonleague play from junior wing Amber Franko.
South Medford has struggled to start the season.
The young Panthers, with just one senior on the roster, have dropped their first six games by a margin of more than 20 points per contest.
Junior guard/post Alanna Stevens, the lone returning starter, and junior guard Alicea Becker should carry the bulk of the scoring load for South Medford.
Reach reporter Kevin Goff at 776-4483, or e-mail kgoff@mailtribune.com
