South Medford's Carter Mills drives to the basket against West Salem in the third quarter Friday.

It took everything for West Salem to escape with a 81-79 championship victory over the South Medford boys basketball team in a double-overtime thriller Friday at the 33rd Abby’s Holiday Classic.

With 4.7 seconds left in the second overtime session, Panthers point guard Jackson Weiland dribbled the ball up the floor, picked up his dribble and stepped through a double team as he barely missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer.

“I picked up my dribble and I ended up getting a decent look at it,” said Weiland. “It just didn’t go in.”

The senior finished the game with 37 points on 57% shooting from the field (16-for-28) in a rematch with the Titans (9-2) from last year’s Abby’s title game.

Weiland was selected on the all-tournament team after he averaged 33 points over three days, landing him second all-time on the tournament scoring average list behind current Oregon State guard Nate Meithof (36.3 ppg).

“He is wired to play that way 100% of the time,” said South Medford basketball coach James Wightman of Weiland. “At the end there, he actually got an open look and I thought it was going in.”

Sophomore Jed Johnson also came up big with 15 points and five rebounds for the Panthers (6-5), who were seeking their first official Abby’s title in 11 years. South went 2-0 in 2022, a year in which it placed fourth at state, when cancellations due to snow cut the event short.

Johnson had big moments late in the game as he made the game-tying layup in the fourth quarter to force overtime, and he forced the second extra period with an offensive putback.

The 6-foot-5 post also had a huge defensive play in the second overtime as he took a charge and fouled out West Salem center Philip Goodrich.

“Jed is growing up before our eyes,” said Wightman. “He’s only a sophomore and he’s gonna get better and better.”

Ty Dahlin also had big plays in crunch time as he pulled down a rebound on a missed free throw to find Johnson on the leak out to tie the game at 68-all to force the first overtime. The senior, who joined Weiland on the all-tournament Team, produced 11 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

However, the late-game heroics might not have been warranted after South Medford had to endure some tough stretches throughout regulation. West Salem used its physicality to create a playoff-like atmosphere, with the game featuring 13 ties and seven lead changes.

With a narrow 3-point lead to start the third, the Titans had a physical matchup zone defense that forced the Panthers to commit nine turnovers, including four in the first two minutes.

“That was part of the reason for a lot of our turnovers,” Weiland said about the physicality. “They were really handsy, so we need to be stronger with the ball.”

With the intensity down low for rebounds also being notched up, Johnson agreed with the Panthers inability to match the energy that the Titans played with in the second half.

“They definitely played more physically than us,” Johnson said about the rebounding battle. “We just didn’t want to bring it out tonight and I know going forward we will be more physical.”

After the offensive miscues, South Medford was unable to stop West Salem as it scored in bunches.

“Our team goal is 55 points or below, so you can’t give up that many points and expect to win,” said Wightman. “Throughout the game, we didn’t take away any of their strengths.”

West Salem got 23 points from Connor Oertel and Jackson Leach added 21, but it was Matthew Luke that was the biggest thorn in South Medford’s side.

The senior guard hit all four of his 3-point attempts and scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half to keep West Salem within striking distance.

“He was the difference-maker in the first half, for sure,” said Weiland. “We just need to do a better job of knowing our personnel and we can’t leave a guy like that open.”

The Panthers also got key contributions from Kash Livdahl and Carter Mills, with Livdahl recording five points, five rebounds and two steals while Mills had six points and two offensive rebounds.

WEST SALEM (81): Leach 21, Hawkins 0, Luke 17, Goodrich 12, Martirano 0, Oertel 23, Whipple 4, Hall 4. Totals: 32 10-16 81.

SOUTH MEDFORD (79): Ritchie 0, Livdahl 5, Weiland 37, Dahlin 11, Shuldberg 5, Mills 6, Johnson 15, Adee 0. Totals: 31 12-17 79.

West Salem 15 19 20 14 6 7 — 81

South Medford 17 19 14 18 6 5 — 79

3-point goals — West Salem 7 (Luke 4, Oertel 2, Leach 1), South Medford 5 (Weiland 4, Livdahl 1). Fouled out — Goodrich.