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Easton Curtis continued his strong start to the boys basketball season for North Medford but the Black Tornado couldn’t quite gain the upper hand late during a 64-54 loss to South Salem in the Shamrock Slam finale Saturday in Eugene.

Curtis led North Medford (2-2) with 18 points in a back-and-forth battle between the teams, who each won their tournament openers Friday in high-scoring affairs.

South Salem (4-0) carried a two-point lead into halftime and a four-point edge entering the fourth quarter, then was able to do just enough to keep the Black Tornado at bay by trading baskets early and going 5-for-7 from the foul line.

Dylan Scott and Traeger Healy each scored 11 points for North Medford, with Scott tacking on five assists and Healy pulling in five rebounds. Keenan Stewart added four assists and Liam Rea came off the bench to secure five rebounds.

Teagan Scott led three Saxons in double figures with 18 points.

NORTH MEDFORD (54): Scott 11, Rea 0, Curtis 18, Snyder 1, Healy 11, Stewart 5, Anderson 6, Zimmer 2. Totals: 20 45-54.

SOUTH SALEM (64): Lapray 9, Hidalgo Guerrero 0, Semm 12, Fleener 2, Carmichael-Kohn 4, Feik 6, Gill 0, Scott 18, Litchfield 3, Westbrook 10. Totals: 22 15-17 64.

North Medford 12 15 15 12 — 54

South Salem 11 18 17 18 — 64

3-point goals — North Medford 8 (Curtis 4, Healy 3, Scott 1), South Salem 5 (Feik 2, Lapray 1, Semm 1, Litchfield 1).

SOUTH MEDFORD 53, RED BLUFF 31: At Arcata, Calif., Cole Adee scored nine points in the first quarter to get South Medford off to a fast start in closing the Arcata Tournament with a 2-1 record.

Adee finished with 16 points and Joey Clevenger contributed 13 points and six rebounds to pace the Panthers (3-3), while Jaqsen Spires added eight points and five boards. Isaac Tannaci and Quinton Ritchie each had four of South Medford’s 15 total assists.

The Panthers had 12 steals and forced Red Bluff (4-2) into 17 turnovers.

SOUTH MEDFORD (53): Tannaci 5, Adee 16, Dufour 0, Spires 8, Ritchie 4, Clevenger 13, Johnson 5, Von Strahl 2, Carson 0, Pacheco 0. Totals: 22 3-4 53.

RED BLUFF (31): Hohenberger 10, Leaf 4, Garnico 0, Demchuk 0, Ross 2, Ledbetter 0, Bonham 3, Sears 0, Bridwell 0, Owens 2, Stephens 2, Bartsch 4, Sides 4. Totals: 12 5-9 31.

South Medford 19 10 15 9 — 53

Red Bluff 9 5 9 8 — 31

3-point goals — South Medford 6 (Adee 2, Clevenger 2, Tannaci 1, Johnson 1), Red Bluff 2 (Hohenberger 1, Leaf 1). Technical fouls — Tannaci, Hohenberger.

CRATER 59, WILLAMETTE 23: At Central Point, sixth-ranked Crater limited Class 6A Willamette to eight field goals overall in a runaway home victory.

Kyle Bittle led the charge for the Comets (3-1) with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Elijah Bryant had 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Malachi Barlow finished with 10 points for Crater, which opened a 21-6 lead through one quarter against the Wolverines (1-4).

WILLAMETTE (23): Garcia 0, Hall 2, Zumwalt 3, Brandberry 0, Cumberland 2, Butler 0, McCann 0, Newton 4, Butler 7, Burke 3, Campbell 0, Baravilala 0. Totals: 8 4-6 23.

CRATER (59): Rodriguez 3, Bryant 12, Smith 4, Higginson 8, Bittle 20, Converse 0, Grant 0, Barlow 10, Robinson 0, Cole 2. Totals: 22 11-14 59.

Willamette 6 4 5 8 — 23

Crater 21 11 18 9 — 59

3-point goals — Willamette 3 (Zumwalt 1, Butler 1, Burke 1), Crater 4 (Bittle 3, Rodriguez 1).

MARSHFIELD 60, PHOENIX 32: At Phoenix, Tobias Akpan scored 19 points but Phoenix was unable to slow Marshfield in a battle of top-10 Class 4A programs.

Seventh-ranked Phoenix (4-1) was limited to single digits in all but one quarter by No. 6 Marshfield (5-1), which drained eight 3-pointers but didn’t have a single free throw attempt in the contest.

MARSHFIELD (60): Jackson 13, Swinson 0, Ainsworth 2, Holmes 5, Lutes 3, Vineyard 12, Butler 0, Carpenter 21, Martin 0, Wyatt 4. Totals: 26 0-0 60.

PHOENIX (32): Decker 2, Phillips 3, Pyeatt 4, McQueen 0, Akpan 19, Ortega 2, Dobbins 2, Govenor 0, Roman 0, Wihtol 0. Totals: 13 4-11 32.

Marshfield 12 22 13 13 — 60

Phoenix 5 13 7 7 — 32

3-point goals — Marshfield 8 (Jackson 3, Carpenter 3, Ainsworth 1, Holmes 1), Phoenix 2 (Phillips 1, Pyeatt 1).