PORTLAND – In a game that featured 24 three-pointers, including 11 in a frenetic fourth-quarter, it was South Medford's Dyllyn Howell who stole the show Monday afternoon at Franklin High School.
The 6-foot senior forward made nine three-pointers – four in the fourth quarter – and scored a career-high 34 points to lead the No. 4 Panthers past reigning Washington state champion AC Davis 83-78 in a Platinum bracket semifinal of the POA Holiday Classic girls basketball tournament.
“I felt really good,” said Howell, who shot 9 of 12 from three-point range and 10 of 13 overall. “I felt like everyone was moving so well around our team. It was easy to get open shots when everyone is moving the ball really well together.”
South Medford coach Tom Cole said that the Sacramento State-bound Howell, who made seven three-pointers in the team's season-opening win at Beaverton, is as good of a shooter as the Panthers have produced. She is averaging a team-high 19.6 points and shooting 48 percent on three-pointers this season.
“She's become so much more mentally tough,” Cole said. “Last year she kind of had a coming-out party in the state tournament, because she had to. And she really used it to have a meaningful summer, and transition into her senior year.”
Senior post Mayen Akpan had 16 points and eight rebounds for South Medford (7-2), which advances to play Faith Family (Texas) in the bracket final Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Franklin. Junior forward Payton Andersen had 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals and senior guard Malia Taulani added 13 points and four assists.
The Panthers braced for a battle against AC Davis (6-2), the top-ranked team in Washington. The Pirates were coming off a tough 74-71 loss to No. 1 Tualatin in non-tournament play Sunday, a game they controlled throughout but lost on a three-pointer at the buzzer by Timberwolves sophomore point guard Love Lei Best.
“We watched them last night and they competed with Tualatin so well,” Howell said. “To come here and play this great team, we just wanted to come out with energy.”
South Medford was able to overcome another sterling performance by AC Davis junior guard Cheyenne Hull, the reigning Washington state player of the year. The 6-0 Hull finished with 36 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three steals, shooting 13 of 19 from the field, including 4 of 6 on three-pointers. She has 68 points and 28 rebounds in two tournament games.
It was a difficult turnaround for the Pirates, who played their third game in three days, with tip-off coming 18 hours after the emotional loss to Tualatin.
“We played an extra game that they didn't play, so we're a little tired,” AC Davis coach Akil White said. “We played a great game against Tualatin last night. We played hard today, but I don't know if we had a lot.”
South Medford scored the game's first six points and led 13-5 on a three-pointer by Howell. Behind Hull, AC Davis pulled ahead by five points in the second quarter and led 34-32 at half.
The Panthers went on a 13-0 run in the third quarter to lead 50-43. AC Davis drew even at 55-55 after three quarters and led 72-67 on a three-pointer by junior Averie Brandt with 3:55 left in the game.
Howell answered with back-to-back three-pointers to put South Medford up 73-72, and after Pirates junior Isa Garcia made a three-pointer, the Panthers took the lead for good at 76-75 on a three-point play by Akpan with 2:18 remaining.
South Medford senior Jordan Barlow drove for a layup and Taulani buried a three-pointer to make it 81-75 with 20 seconds left. Garcia swished a three-pointer to draw AC Davis within 81-78 with 10 seconds to go, but Howell sealed the win by making two free throws with four seconds on the clock.
Howell's late three-point barrage stung AC Davis.
“She came on late, so it kind of shook us,” White said. “She changed the game.”
The Panthers were able to prevail despite Howell, Akpan and Barlow each picking up their fourth fouls in the third quarter. The trio played the entire fourth quarter without fouling.
“There's a lot less you can do, especially on the rebounding side,” said the San Diego State-bound Akpan, who is averaging 14.1 points and 11.6 rebounds this season. “Sometimes rebounds are a gamble. I just had to be a little more careful, for sure.”
South Medford has won back-to-back games after entering the tournament off a 65-53 loss to No. 2 West Linn in the final of the Capitol City Classic in Salem. Cole said Monday's win was “by far” his team's best game of the season.
“Our kids showed a lot of grit today,” Cole said. “We've had a really tough time with foul trouble against some really good teams because we couldn't keep everybody on the floor. Today we were able to get some continuity, and it paid off.”
The Panthers were highly efficient on offense. They shot 57.1 percent from the field, making 13 of 21 three-point attempts.
“Every single person shot their shots,” Howell said.”I felt like everyone was confident. It just showed us what we can do.”
Akpan, who scored 13 of her 16 points in the first half, said the game was a “big step forward” for South Medford.
“Not just the play, but the energy from everyone,” Akpan said. “Even if they were going on runs, there weren't any dull moments when anyone was getting chippy or had their heads down. I think we're starting to understand each other as a whole. Everything is a lot smoother for us.”
Cole said the performance gives the Panthers confidence that they can play with teams such as Tualatin, West Linn and No. 3 Benson.
“When we're playing like that, we've got a lot of optimism,” he said.
A look at the other semifinals from the top brackets at the POA Holiday Classic:
Platinum
Faith Family earned its spot in the bracket by overwhelming No. 6 Southridge 63-30. Cass Antoine had 14 points and four steals and Kelenna Ozumba added 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Sara Mangan made four three-pointers and scored 16 points to lead Southridge (5-4), which shot 22.9 percent (11 for 48).
Diamond
Top-ranked Tualatin led wire-to-wire in a 63-43 win over Mater Dei (Calif.). Love Lei Best made four three-pointers and scored 24 points and Maaya Lucas hit three three-pointers and added 11 points for the Timberwolves (7-0), who led 26-10 after one quarter. Stella Hoss had 20 points and nine rebounds for Mater Dei. … No. 3 Benson suffered its first loss of the season, a 69-64 defeat to Etiwanda (Calif.). The Astros (4-1), who led by nine points late in the second quarter, got 23 points and nine rebounds from Jayla Lackey, who shot 11 of 15 from the field. Etiwanda's Arynn Finley made four three-pointers and scored a game-high 27 points. .. Tualatin and Etiwanda play for the bracket title at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Franklin.
Emerald
No. 2 West Linn (7-1) lost for the first time, falling to Sage Hill (Calif.) 56-50. Senior guard Reese Jordan collected 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, making three three-pointers, in the loss. The Lions shot 31.3 percent from the field, including 3 of 15 from deep. Sage Hill, which got 28 points from Amalia Holguin, led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter. … St. Mary's (Calif.) will play Sage Hill in Tuesday's bracket final after dispatching Beaverton 70-55. Ruby Foord scored 20 points to lead the Beavers (3-6), who led by one point at halftime. Five players scored in double figures for St. Mary's, led by Aynya Hardy's 14. Amani Rafiq shot 4 of 5 from three-point range and scored 12 points for St. Mary's, which had 10 triples.
Sapphire
Jesuit bolted to a 22-5 lead after one quarter and held off Barlow 75-49, getting 17 points from Amani Lubrano, who made three three-pointers. Ceanna Forney had 11 points and 15 rebounds and Katie Kidd had 12 points for the No. 5 Crusaders (7-0). Adia Fancher led Barlow with 24 points. … No. 8 Nelson (2-6) started fast before losing to St. Joseph's (Calif.) 59-37. The Hawks opened a nine-point lead in the first quarter but trailed 31-23 at half. Love Forde put up 19 points and seven rebounds for Nelson. Ava Washington led St. Joseph's with 15 points and eight rebounds. … Jesuit and St. Joseph's meet in the bracket final at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Franklin.
jerryu@osaa.org
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