EUGENE — Kevin Love was good, South Medford was better.
Getting contributions from players up and down the Panther lineup, second-ranked South Medford withstood Lake Oswego's one-man attack Saturday to secure the school's first-ever boys basketball state championship.
The Panthers had three players score in double figures and showed tremendous poise in fending off the Lakers for a 58-54 victory in front of a sold-out crowd of 9,082 at McArthur Court.
"I just can't really express how it feels to be state champs," Panthers senior Kyle Singler said moments after South's fans stormed the court in celebration. "It just shows all the hard work can pay off, and I'm glad we can bring this title back to Medford."
The Class 6A title earned Saturday is South Medford High's first since the boys soccer team won the 4A crown in 2003. It was also the first big-school championship for Panthers coach Dennis Murphy, who previously had earned a 2A title at St. Mary's High.
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Proving nothing ever comes easy, South Medford (27-3) had to work for everything it got Saturday against the top-ranked Lakers. The two teams waged a back-and-forth contest befitting the pre-game hype involving the state's best teams and two of the nation's best players in Singler and Love.
The UCLA-bound Love was able to use his 6-foot-10, 255-pound frame to muscle his way to a game-high 37 points and 15 rebounds, while the Duke-bound Singler found himself in foul trouble but still finished with 18 points — with the senior sinking 11 of 13 from the foul line — to go with four assists.
But while the dynamic duo lived up to expectations, it was South Medford junior point guard Michael Harthun who stole the show for the better part of the contest.
"It was a great game," said Love."We could've hit a couple more shots, a couple more free throws, but in the end Michael Harthun really stepped up and hit some big shots and that was the difference-maker for the game."
Harthun drained 8 of 13 shots from the field, including a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point range, to notch a team-high 24 points.
"We've always known Michael's a tremendous competitor and he likes big games, he really does, so his performance today didn't surprise us at all," said Murphy. "He did a great job."
After splicing open his shooting hand in the early morning hours prior to Thursday's state tournament-opener, Harthun made a promise to his teammates that he would do everything in his power to make up for his lapse in judgment.
He more than lived up to his promise Saturday, hitting clutch shot after clutch shot to answer any challenge posed by the Lakers.
"I think I owed it to my team," said the 6-3 standout, who was a first-team all-tournament selection along with Singler and Love.
Even with the main characters living up to their hype, it was the supporting cast for South Medford that helped seal the victory as Kyle Singler and younger brother E.J. Singler both found themselves on the bench with four fouls over a five-minute span covering part of the third and fourth quarters.
The Panthers led 24-23 at halftime and took the lead for good at 34-31 on a Kyle Singler 3-pointer with 3:36 to go in the third quarter. Moments later, however, both Singlers found a new role as cheerleaders on the bench.
In their sted, Van Dellenback-Ouellette and Jon Grimes moved to the high post and Mitch Singler slid in at wing — and the Panthers never missed a beat.
"Everybody stepped up," said Kyle Singler. "From Mike, to Van, to E.J., to Jon and on down the line. This really was a true team effort."
Kyle Singler finally returned to the court with 5:27 to play, and promptly took over the contest. The 6-9 team leader drew four fouls to get to the charity stripe and converted 7 of 8 to deny the Lakers.
His biggest moment, however, may have come on a box-out with 27 seconds to play and South leading 56-54. Eliot Babcock-Krenk missed his second of two free throws and the ball caromed toward Singler and Love on the left side of the basket. Both went up as high as their considerable arms could stretch and kept hopping to tip the ball, with Singler getting the best of the skirmish. The ball then found the waiting arms of Dylan Anderson, who quickly got the ball back to Singler, who then harbored back to his quarterback days and fired a bullet up court to cousin Mitch Singler. The sophomore reserve then relayed the ball to Dellenback-Ouellette to further drain the clock until the senior was fouled with 12.5 seconds to play.
Even though he had missed his prior two attempts, Dellenback-Ouellette calmly drilled both free throws for a 58-54 lead.
"I've always liked to hit free throws in the clutch," said the senior, who finished with 12 points. "You've just got to put those other ones out of your mind, take a deep breath and say, 'Let's go.'"
The drama didn't end there, however, as Lake Oswego worked the ball downcourt to Love in the corner, but his desperation 3-pointer over Kyle Singler bounced off the rim and Anderson soared above the crowd to knock the ball away.
"I was just trying to get it outta there to win the game," Anderson said of the tip-out.
The deflected ball found the waiting hands of Grimes, who dribbled off the final four seconds to set off South's celebration.
"I just let all my emotions go at the end," said Kyle Singler. "It was just building up all this year and I just let it loose. It feels good to have that off our back."
And although it didn't mean much to Singler, he improved his record to 3-2 in head-to-head matchups with Love.
"In these kind of games you have to have a little bit of luck on your side," said Love, whose Lakers were in their third straight final. "South Medford had that today with Kyle hitting some big shots and Michael Harthun pulling shots out from I don't know where. Today was their day."
"Like they say, every dog has its day and this is South Medford's day so they should soak it up," he added.
And as the night grew late, they most assuredly were.
LAKE OSWEGO (26-2)
Love 14-20 9-10 37, Ainge 3-5 2-2 9, Spada 2-6 0-0 6, Babcock-Krenk 0-1 1-2 1, Lavender 0-3 1-2 1, Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Marr 0-3 0-0 0, Anthony 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-39 13-16 54.
SOUTH MEDFORD (27-3)
Harthun 8-13 3-3 24, K. Singler 3-9 11-13 18, Dellenback-Ouellette 4-5 2-4 12, M. Singler 1-1 0-0 2, E. Singler 0-3 2-2 2, Grimes 0-1 0-0 0, Andersen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-32 18-22 58.
Lake Oswego 9 14 14 17 —54
South Medford 8 16 18 16 —58
3-point goals — Lake Oswego 3-13 (Spada 2-5, Ainge 1-1, Lavender 0-3, Marr 0-3, Love 0-1), South Medford 8-9 (Harthun 5-5, Dellenback-Ouellette 2-2, K. Singler 1-1, Grimes 0-1). Fouled out — Lake Oswego-None, South Medford- E. Singler, Harthun. Rebounds — Lake Oswego 21 (Love 15), South Medford 16 (E. Singler 4). Assists — Lake Oswego 10 (Babcock-Krenk 3, Ainge 3), South Medford 9 (K. Singler 4). Total fouls — Lake Oswego 17, South Medford 19. A — 9,087.
Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail khenry@mailtribune.com
