Two weeks removed from competition and limited practice in between led to a slow start for the Class 6A fifth-ranked South Medford girls basketball team Tuesday night in Grants Pass.

Once the Panthers finally got rolling, though, there was no stopping them as South Medford rolled to a 64-34 win over the 10th-ranked Cavers in Southwest Conference action.

South Medford senior Sara Schmerbach scored 10 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter to lead four Panthers in double figures. Schmerbach also finished with six steals, five assists and seven rebounds in a strong all-around effort.

Grants Pass — seeking its first win over South Medford (16-3, 6-1 SWC) in at least a decade — had closed within 10 points early in the fourth quarter at 38-28, but it was all Panthers from there to close the game out as Schmerbach and an energetic defensive effort took over.

South Medford outscored the Cavers 27-9 over the final eight minutes.

Maddy Warberg connected on four 3-pointers to join Jordan Barlow and Dyllyn Howell with 12 points apiece for the Panthers.

Warberg also had two assists and two blocks, while Barlow dished out three assists to go with two steals and three rebounds and Howell came up with two steals and two assists.

South Medford led only 12-8 through one quarter before putting some distance between itself and Grants Pass (15-5, 6-3) with a 16-3 run in the second quarter.

Freshman Eva Lindahl led the Cavers with 11 points and senior Kenzie Kleiner scored eight of her 10 points during a third-quarter surge.

Next up for the Panthers is a top-5 showdown at home Friday against No. 4-ranked Willamette, which edged South Medford 56-48 in the first meeting between the SWC leaders. Start time for that matchup will be 7:30 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader with the boys basketball teams.

SOUTH MEDFORD (64): Taulani 3, Warberg 12, Imperial-Viray 3, Schmerbach 13, Barlow 12, Howell 12, Akpan 3, Andersen 4, Vasey 2. Totals: 25 4-11 64.

GRANTS PASS (34): Brandes 2, Wakefield 0, Thompson 3, Kleiner 10, Cox 0, Willett 6, Latehn 2, Lindahl 11, Montejano 0, Lackey 0, Pewitt 0. Totals: 12 6-8 34.

South Medford 12 16 9 27 — 64

Grants Pass 8 3 14 9 — 34

3-point goals — South Medford 10 (Warberg 4, Barlow 2, Howell 2, Imperial-Viray 1, Schmerbach 1), Grants Pass 4 (Kleiner 2, Lindahl 2).

ROSEBURG 47, NORTH MEDFORD 43: At Roseburg, North Medford suffered its fourth loss in the last five games in its long-awaited return to the court following a recent school closure due to snowy conditions in Medford.

Caileigh Raines collected 22 points but the Black Tornado (6-13, 3-4 SWC) struggled with foul troubles overall.

Roseburg (6-14) notched its second win in nine league games.

NORTH MEDFORD (43): Brownlee 2, Smalley 3, Miller 0, West 4, Taylor 0, Boger 6, Raines 22, Verduzco 0, Lane 6. Totals: 18 3-11 43.

ROSEBURG (47): G. Bachmeier 7, Aasen 4, C. Bachmeier 1, Miller 4, Smith 0, Osborne 13, Ka. Smith 1, Johnson 10, Sikes 5, Weaver 2. Totals: 17 11-23 47.

North Medford 13 10 7 13 — 43

Roseburg 10 9 15 13 — 47

3-point goals — North Medford 4 (Raines 2, Lane 2), Roseburg 2 (G. Bachmeier 1, Osborne 1). Fouled out — West, Taylor.

CRATER 93, ASHLAND 21: At Ashland, Class 5A top-ranked Crater scored another dominant Midwestern League win at Ashland’s expense, using 21 points from Sage Winslow and 19 apiece by Taylor Young and Lydia Traore to lead the charge.

Jazmine Fernandez scored 10 points for the Comets (20-1, 8-0 MWL), who led 32-4 through one quarter and eclipsed the 90-point mark for the third time this season. Two of those have come against the Grizzlies.

Kayla Hawkins scored seven points for Ashland (5-14, 1-6), who also got six points each from Savannah Sargent and Wynn Pistole.

CRATER (93): Gugliotta 2, Winslow 21, Nieman 3, Jackson 0, Fernandez 10, Griffin 2, Dippel 9, Plankenhorn 2, Kitchen 4, Yohner 0, Young 19, Traore 19, Hyatt 2. Totals: 39 8-10 93.

ASHLAND (21): Montgomery 0, Kemper 2, Bakke 0, Kiekhaefer 0, McDonald 0, Carter 0, Hawkins 7, Sargent 6, Pistole 6, Hagemann 0. Totals: 8 5-6 21.

Crater 32 22 23 16 — 93

Ashland 4 4 9 4 — 21

3-point goals — Crater 7 (Winslow 3, Fernandez 2, Dippel 1, Nieman 1).

PHOENIX 60, HIDDEN VALLEY 44: At Phoenix, a resolute effort on defense in the second half allowed Phoenix to win the rubber match in a three-game Skyline Conference series with Hidden Valley.

Phoenix (12-7, 5-3 Skyline) limited the visiting Mustangs to 14 points over the final 16 minutes, creating its first advantage midway through the third quarter and never looking back. The Pirates went on a 20-8 run in the fourth quarter to close out the victory.

Alissa Alvarez led Phoenix with 26 points, while Lily Quintero added 11 points and Mae Woodward had 10 points.

Hidden Valley (7-12, 3-4) opened with an 8-0 surge and was particularly hot from beyond the arc, connecting on five 3-pointers in the first half to build a 30-26 lead at halftime. Hannah Rommes led the Mustangs with 16 points.

HIDDEN VALLEY (44): Rommes 16, Graham 8, Kelly 4, Bennett 11, Lesher 3, Hipps 0, Pearce 0, Sandquist 2.

PHOENIX (60): Quintero 11, Sousa 9, Woodward 10, Alvarez 26, Noxon 0, Foster 4, Ponce 0.

Hidden Valley 17 13 6 8 — 44

Phoenix 13 13 14 20 — 60

CASCADE CHRISTIAN 53, ST. MARY’S 16: Isabel McCauley poured in 12 of her 14 points during a first-quarter barrage by Class 3A fifth-ranked Cascade Christian that led to a runaway Southern Oregon Conference home victory.

Emma Coats and Brynn Coppedge each tallied seven points for the Challengers (17-4, 7-0 SOC), who opened a 22-2 lead through one quarter.

Grace McCauley finished with five points and six rebounds for Cascade Christian, who saw 10 different players make at least one basket.

Freshman Bailey Strickler led St. Mary’s (6-10, 1-5) with seven points and sophomore Ella Yeamans scored five points.

ST. MARY’S (16): Medley 0, Gunn 0, Rankin 0, McGill 0, A. Arthur 0, Chlewboski 0, Rangel Villa 2, Weymouth 2, E. Arthur 0, Yeamans 5, Strickler 7, Tongia 0. Totals: 6 2-5 16.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN (53): Coppedge 7, Wilcox 6, Ferreira 0, I. McCauley 14, Samhammer 2, Vanlandingham 4, Coats 7, Jones 2, Davis 2, Arce 4, G. McCauley 5, Madden 0, Fortier 0. Totals: 23 2-4 53.

St. Mary’s 2 3 8 3 — 16

Cascade Christian 22 6 13 12 — 53

3-point goals — St. Mary’s 2 (Strickler 1, Yeamans 1), Cascade Christian 5 (I. McCauley 2, Coppedge 1, Coats 1, G. McCauley 1).