PREP HOOPS: Phoenix surges to win

Dec. 16—Phoenix boys basketball head coach Troy McNichols couldn't have drawn up the bookend moments to the first half any better Thursday night.

Using a pair of runs that, combined, saw Phoenix outscore South Umpqua 17-1, the Pirates built a double-digit halftime lead en route to a 82-66 nonleague win over Class 3A South Umpqua to run their record on the young season to 6-1.

"A lot of what we do is just based on energy," said McNichols. "I think we had a couple of lulls in the first half and it really kind of tanks our momentum when we don't play consistently with energy. What we're doing requires us to play with a high level of energy and intensity, and the groups that had the runs were definitely the groups that were playing harder."

The Pirates — who have won three straight — opened the game on a 9-1 run after Robin Trenbeath's runner in the lane, with the Lancers (2-4) going without a field goal for the first 21/2 minutes.

South Umpqua chipped away at Phoenix's lead but was only able to cut the deficit to as little as three points for the rest of the first quarter.

That allowed Phoenix to stretch its lead into double digits for the first time late in the first quarter, when Julius Bolstad hit a 3-pointer from the right wing and Dylan Harper made a basket in transition to make it 17-7.

The Pirates' up-tempo offense found its rhythm in the second quarter, scoring a whopping 29 points.

Phoenix used a quick 8-0 run to close the first half to get its lead back to double digits after South Umpqua had cut it to a 40-37 margin. Trenbeath and Harper each hit 3-pointers in quick succession, allowing the Pirates to go into the half with their largest lead of the half, 48-37.

"It was great for us momentum-wise and what we talked about at halftime was that we didn't want to let that down and we wanted to build on that," said McNichols. "And build not just on the energy but the lead — and I feel like for the most of the second half we did that."

The 48 first-half points eclipsed the point total from Phoenix's 47-42 win over Eagle Point on Tuesday night.

Phoenix also hit seven of its 11 3-pointers on the night in the opening half.

"From an offensive standpoint, it was all kinda clicking for us," said McNichols, "but what we talked about is that our defense needs to be our offense. We got them caught up in the frantic style and we were able to capitalize."

Harper finished with a game-high 21 points, while Trenbeath recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists. Two other Pirates finished in double figures, as the 6-foot-4 Bolstad finished with 17 points and Diego Hernandez added 11.

Trenbeath and Bolstad each hit three 3s against the Lancers.

Chase Briggs scored 16 points to pace South Umpqua.

"It just shows that we're sharing the ball and guys are buying into our concepts and our focus on being the best team that we can be," McNichols said of having four players in double figures. "For the last three games we have really shared the ball quite well and guys are starting to figure out when you can put others first how it comes back around. I'm really proud of that. We're sharing the ball and it's not sticking in one place."

SOUTH UMPQUA (66): Briggs 16, Cole 3, Benefiel 12, Burnett 2, Wilborn 5, Eastridge 13, Johnson 13. Totals: 26 9-15 66.

PHOENIX (82): Trenbeath 13, Mooring 2, Ja. Selden 2, Ponce 3, Hernandez 11, Harper 21, Ayala-Talbott 5, Mendez 2, Decker 6, Bolstad 17. Totals: 29 13-19 82.

South Umpqua14231019— 66

Phoenix19291519— 82

3-point goals — South Umpqua 5 (Briggs 2, Benefiel 1, Wilborn 1, Johnson 1), Phoenix 11 (Trenbeath 3, Ponce 1, Hernandez 1, Harper 2, Ayala-Talbott 1, Bolstad 3). Technical foul — Burnett.

JV result — Phoenix won.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN 74, CROOK COUNTY 38: At Coos Bay, Drew Hall scored 28 points in his Cascade Christian debut and reigning Class 3A player of the year Austin Maurer recorded a double-double as the top-ranked Challengers rolled to a win at the Les Schwab South Coast Tournament.

Hall, who transferred from South Medford, scored 18 of his 28 points in the first half, leading the Cascade Christian (1-0) charge as the Challengers built a 42-22 lead going into the half. Hall also had four steals and four assists.

The 7-foot Maurer scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to go with five assists and four blocks.

Jaren Fronckowiak, a sophomore transfer who started last year for Brookings-Harbor, added nine points while Peyton Maurer chipped in eight for Cascade Christian.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN (74): Fronckowiak 9, Anderson 3, Wallace 4, Hall 28, Farmer 4, P. Maurer 8, Westlake 0, Brown 0, Bryant 0, A. Maurer 18. Totals: 31 7-14 74.

CROOK COUNTY (38): Matthews 0, Freauff 14, Ossenkop 0, Teskey 0, Martinez 6, Carr 6, Teasdale 7, Wood 5, Jonas 0. Totals: 14 6-9 38.

Cascade Christian21211517— 74

Crook County111179— 38

3-point goals — Cascade Christian 5 (Hall 4, Farmer 1), Crook County 4 (Martinez 2, Carr 2).

ST. BERNARD'S 67, ST. MARY'S 62: At Eureka, Calif., Kayden Walker scored 17 points to lead St. Mary's, which got 14 points apiece from Noah Friesen and Tyson Delplanche in the opening-round loss at the Logger Classic.

St. Mary's, which fell behind due to a 21-8 run by St. Bernard's in the second quarter, dropped to 0-3.

St. Mary's1381922— 62

St. Bernard's17211415— 67

Girls

SPRINGFIELD 48, GRANTS PASS 41: At Springfield, Brooke Anderson scored 16 points and Mia Thompson added 10 for Grants Pass but Springfield was able to salt the game away and pin a first loss on the Cavers by going 10-for-17 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

J'Bionna Robinson had 12 points and Danaeja Romero-Ah Sam added 11 for Springfield (4-1).

Grants Pass moved to 4-1.

GRANTS PASS (41): Brandes 0, Kleiner 2, Anderson 16, Thompson 10, Bruner 2, Mock 6, Vainuku-Johnson 0, B. Wakefield 5. Totals: 13 14-18 41.

SPRINGFIELD (48): Dar. Romero-Ah Sam 6, Morgan 4, Robinson 12, Marshall 7, Henderson 8, Morris 0, Wilson 0, Dan. Romero-Ah Sam 11. Totals: 15 13-25 48.

Grants Pass146813— 41

Springfield139818— 48

3-point goals — Grants Pass 1 (Anderson 1), Springfield 5 (Dar. Romero-Ah Sam 1, Henderson 2, Dan. Romero-Ah Sam 2). Fouled out — Henderson.

PHOENIX 48, SOUTH UMPQUA 28: At Phoenix, junior guard Anabell Delgado knocked down two of her five 3-pointers in the first quarter as Phoenix opened a 16-0 lead and never looked back for the nonleague win.

Delgado finished with 23 points and six steals, while Morgan James fell one assist shy of a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Pirates (4-3).

Ruby Rector added seven points for Phoneix, which led 29-9 at halftime.

SOUTH UMPQUA (28): Kelley 4, Everett 0, Love 12, McElmurry 0, V. Richardson 6, D. Richardson 6, Donahoe 0. Totals: 11 4-8 28.

PHOENIX (48): James 10, Nolan 0, Woodward 4, Mohamud 4, Delgado 23, Rector 7, McConnell 0, Jacobs-Grigsby 0. Totals: 20 3-10 48.

South Umpqua09811— 28

Phoenix1613712— 48

3-point goals — South Umpqua 2 (Love 2), Phoenix 5 (Delgado 5).

JV result — South Umpqua won.