For as discouraging as things looked at halftime, the ending was doubly sweet for the Crater boys basketball team Thursday night at the Red Bluff Holiday Classic in California.

The Comets pulled off a whopping comeback during the opening round of the tournament, turning a 15-point halftime deficit into a 59-55 triumph over Pleasant Valley with a valiant effort over the final 16 minutes.

Senior forward Kyle Bittle and sophomore guard Malachi Barlow found a scoring rhythm in the second half for Crater (5-1), scoring a combined 35 of their team’s 42 points after the break to stun the Vikings (2-5).

The 6-foot-5 Bittle collected 20 of his game-high 28 points in the second half and finished with five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Barlow gave his team a huge jolt with all three of his 3-pointers during a 26-point outburst in the third quarter. The 6-1 guard, who also had three rebounds and two assists, registered 15 of his 17 points in the closing effort.

The only other Comets to score in the second half were Ben Higginson, who had all five of his points in that span, and Julien Grant, who registered his only field goal of the contest.

After trailing 32-17 at halftime, Crater was able to tie the game at 43-all entering the fourth quarter and got some early baskets before Bittle was able to help close out the comeback by going 6-for-9 from the free-throw line.

Elijah Bryant helped Crater limp through the first half with all seven of his points, and finished with four rebounds and four assists.

Keith Thompson paced Pleasant Valley with 18 points and Anthony Sanchez added 17 points.

MADRAS 53, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 40: At Seaside, Cascade Christian struggled to get going in its Season Tournament opener, falling behind 15-4 after one quarter to Class 4A Madras and creating a hole from which the 3A Challengers could not recover.

Senior Jaren Fronckowiak scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half for Cascade Christian (0-2), while Deryk Farmer tallied eight points and Brady Kleker added seven points.

Matthew Scott had 20 points and Nakomis Rivera added 12 to lift Madras (6-0), ranked 10th in the 4A coaches poll.

Girls Basketball

SHERWOOD 40, NORTH MEDFORD 31: At Sherwood, North Medford senior Olivia Boger supplied a strong all-around effort with 10 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals in the rollercoaster road loss.

Caileigh Raines collected seven points, six rebounds, six steals and three blocks for the Black Tornado (2-3), who trailed until the final moments of the third quarter before taking a 26-25 lead into the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, however, North managed only five points from Raines as Sherwood (3-3) pulled away with a 15-5 closing run.

Kylie Yamanaka produced 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bowmen.

EAGLE POINT 62, MAZAMA 22: At Eagle Point, junior post Kady Ledbetter poured in a career-high 26 points to go with 10 rebounds in leading Eagle Point to a nonconference romp.

Sophomore Emary Haning added 10 points and seven rebounds and Kady Lindstrom had seven points and 10 boards for the Eagles (3-2), who opened a 35-10 lead by halftime.

Boys Wrestling

SOUTH MEDFORD 70, SOUTH EUGENE 12: South Medford recorded seven falls — two in 20 seconds or less — and tacked on two technical fall victories to earn the easy Southwest Conference home triumph.

Brody Foss, at 157 pounds, posted a pin in 15 seconds for the Panthers and Isa De La Torre (285) put an end to his match in 20 seconds.

106 — Jacob James, SM, pinned Lachlan Ellis, :53; 113 — Vaughn Graff, SM, won by forfeit; 120 — Blake Harris, SM, won by forfeit; 126 — Vonte Ruiz, SM, won by forfeit; 132 — Koa Duerst, SE, pinned Levi Wolters, 1:24.

138 — Ryder Reyes, SM, pinned Daniel Mellout, 1:11; 144 — Kassius Rague, SM, tech. Fall Fisher Gunderson, 21-5; 150 — Brody Texeira, SM, pinned Daniel Jetty, 1:18; 157 — Brody Foss, SM, pinned Kai Anthony, :15.

165 — Carter Schack, SM, pinned Talon Bishop, 2:58; 175 — James Duffy, SE, pinned Salvador Ruiz, 1:16; 190 — Bridger Foss, SM, won by forfeit; 215 — Wesley Boyd, SM, tech. fall Joseph Heindel, 16-0; 285 — Isa De La Torre, SM, pinned Cash Baselice, :20.

NORTH MEDFORD 63, SHELDON 15: At Eugene, North Medford won all but three weight classes — one of those going into sudden victory — and registered seven pins in the Southwest Conference road victory.

Heston Likens (165) scored a dominant technical fall effort to lead the Black Tornado, with Owen Gutches (175) earning a 9-0 major decision to complement the seven falls.

106 — Emmett Schmidt, NM, pinned Jake Essin, 2:00; 113 — Brandon Escalante, NM, won by forfeit; 120 — Bennett Chinburg, NM, pinned Aiden Kunasek, n/a; 126 — Nathan Mellow, She, dec. Samuel Hesler, 11-8 SV; 132 — Joseph Borraggine, NM, pinned Samuel Koch, n/a.

138 — Luke Armijo, She, pinned Andrew Vanell, n/a; 144 — Anthony Hall, NM, pinned Chase Kellogg, :55; 150 — Hunter Bell, NM, pinned Tyler Webb, 4:00; 157 — Mason Stucky, She, pinned Logan McDougall, 1:08.

165 — Heston Likens, NM, tech. Fall Gadiel Gonzalez, 15-0; 175 — Owen Gutches, NM, major dec. Hayden Belnap, 9-0; 190 — Jeb Ramirez, NM, pinned Caleb Pierce, 1:23; *215 — Jackson Crosby, NM, won by forfeit; 285 — Trey Kennedy-Coleman, NM, pinned Parker Edwards, 1:30.

* starting weight

EAGLE POINT SWEEPS: At Eagle Point, host Eagle Point claimed all but one match in a sizable sweep of a tri-meet with Phoenix and Yreka. The Eagles won 79-0 over the Pirates and 78-6 over the Miners.

In the closest match of the night between Eagle Point and Phoenix, Aiden Love of the Eagles was able to generate a 7-4 decision over Caden Cunningham at 144 pounds. The Pirates had to forfeit eight of the 14 matches.

Eagle Point managed eight pins against Yreka, with the fastest coming in 11 seconds by Gage Hamann (150).

EAGLE POINT 79, PHOENIX 0

106 — Jaxon DeVette, EP, won by forfeit; 113 — Talen Elizando, EP, tech. fall Weston Miles, 18-3; 120 — Wyatt Dahling, EP, won by forfeit; 126 — Cooper White, EP, won by forfeit; 132 — Levi Evans, EP, pinned Aaron Thomas, 2:47.

138 — Brett Jermain, EP, pinned Jackson Scala, 2:25; 144 — Aiden Love, EP, dec. Caden Cunningham, 7-4; 150 — Gage Hamann, EP, won by forfeit; 157 — Isaac De La Cruz, EP, tech. fall Aidric Baynard, 16-0.

165 — Colby Price, EP, pinned Tristian Celeen, :18; 175 — Julius Smith, EP, won by forfeit; 190 — Blaine Bruner, EP, won by forfeit; 215 — Jordan Delacruz, EP, won by forfeit; 285 — Brian Cortez, EP, won by forfeit.

EAGLE POINT 78, YREKA 6

106 — Jaxon DeVette, EP, won by forfeit; 113 — Talen Elizando, EP, pinned James Zufelt, 1:04; 120 — Wyatt Dahling, EP, won by forfeit; 126 — Cooper White, EP, won by forfeit; 132 — Levi Evans, EP, pinned Cain Navarro, :54.

138 — Brett Jermain, EP, won by forfeit; 144 — Thomas Wippel, EP, pinned Izaak Gower, 1:17; 150 — Gage Hamann, EP, pinned Hunter Hopkins, :11; 157 — Isaac De La Cruz, EP, pinned Wyatt Endres, 2:56.

165 — Colby Price, EP, won by forfeit; 175 — Julius Smith, EP, pinned Jason Franklin, 2:25; 190 — Blaine Bruner, EP, pinned David Benson, :48; 215 — Noah Mannix, Yre, pinned Jordan Delacruz, 3:16; 285 — Brian Cortez, EP, pinned Tommy Davis, 1:53.