No. 6-seeded Panthers shake off adverse circumstances with balanced, energetic effort to reach 6A state tournament

There’s a reason why South Medford has made it to the state tournament in almost every season under head coach Tom Cole, and it sure isn’t luck.

The sixth-seeded Panthers proved their ability to adapt and overcome Friday night, romping to a 58-30 victory over No. 11 Century in the second round of the girls basketball state playoffs.

“We all thought it was going to be a really hard game, which it was, but our energy was just unmatched,” said South Medford junior Dyllyn Howell. “I’m really proud of everyone.”

Minus injured senior leader Sara Schmerbach and with star junior center Mayen Akpan on the sidelines due to two fouls after only 4 ½ minutes, the Panthers (22-4) didn’t skip a beat in extending an early lead and dispatching the Jaguars (21-5), who finished runner-up to No. 4 McMinnville in the Pacific Conference.

Howell and senior Maddy Warberg each recorded 14 points, while Jordan Barlow added 13 points and Akpan registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the coast-to-coast triumph.

“Tuesday was obviously a huge emotional blow,” said Cole of South seeing Schmerbach suffer a season-ending knee injury against Newberg, “but, to their credit, they were really determined to do something not only for Sara, who meant so much to them, but to also say that we’re better than one kid, we’re still playing for pride and we still believe that we’re a relevant team.”

The reigning Class 6A state champion Panthers have been somewhat overshadowed across the state by the presence of upper seeds like Clackamas (ranked in the top 10 nationally), Tualatin, Jefferson and Willamette — the latter halting a 51-game conference winning streak by South Medford en route to the Southwest Conference title.

“Even though it’s ours to lose, it certainly felt like they crowned it early for everybody else, and that’s OK,” said Cole. “We’ve been in different places where all the pressure is on and you haven’t lost any games, and that wasn’t the case this year. We’ve taken some losses to teams, and hopefully grew from them.”

“As we always say, you’ve got to be meaningful in March,” he added, “and we’re trying to muster — despite some bad stuff — the opportunity to be better. I think tonight was a step in the direction of being better.”

The Panthers have been a part of all but one 6A girls basketball state tournament in Portland dating back to 2011, and come home with plenty of hardware for the trophy case in the process. South Medford has reached the semifinal round in each of the last five seasons if you count the unofficial tournament title run in 2021 when the OSAA didn’t hold a championship tourney.

“It’s a great opportunity and it will be fun to get up there and compete again and have that experience,” said Cole. “It’s hard to get there, and we’ve been really fortunate enough to where now it feels like an expectation that you’re going to go there or it’s a bad season. Getting back there this year felt even harder, not only on Tuesday night but at various points of the season.”

Stirring the pot toward another trip to the Chiles Center early on was Barlow, who offered tenacious defense and supplied a seal and ensuing three-point play that allowed the Panthers to move into the second quarter with an 11-5 lead on Century.

Barlow went on to collect eight second-quarter points, but it was all the little things with setting up teammates and harassing the Jaguars that provided the most momentum.

“It was hard without Mayen and without Sara, but we worked together and figured it out,” said Barlow.

“I think the energy of our team with all of us coming together was good,” she added. “We stayed together, and I thought we did really well together. It was fun.”

Cole praised Barlow after the game for her ability to control the game against Century, and aggressively getting downhill while making plays for her teammates. He noted how her contributions often can be overlooked by outsiders who focus mostly on point production, but it’s certainly not that way among the Panther faithful.

“I’m really proud of how Jordan played tonight,” said Cole. “I think she’s starting to recognize, herself, that she can be a formidable force.”

The same goes for Howell, who broke the contest open with back-to-back 3-pointers to open the second quarter, scoring seven of her 10 first-half points in the frame.

“She was dialed in tonight,” Cole said of the junior. “Dyllyn had a look in her eyes tonight that she wasn’t going to let this opportunity get away. She played with a very different intention tonight, for sure.”

Howell also collected six rebounds, and shifted to a low-post defense of Century’s 6-foot-5 center Kiara Green and performed admirably.

“Everyone else on the team just had so much energy,” said Howell, “and when one teammate has energy it brings it to the whole team. It was just kind of like my time right there.”

Howell also heaped praise on sophomore Payton Andersen, who grabbed seven rebounds after moving into the starting rotation for Schmerbach and allowed South Medford to sit Akpan over the final 11 ½ minutes of the first half while still building a 30-14 lead.

“It was a huge adjustment but thankfully we have Payton, who brought a lot of energy on the boards,” said Howell of the role adjustments. “It was really nice that we were able to adjust to that.”

Malia Taulani also provided a lift with eight rebounds and four assists, while Warberg finished with three steals.

“I think the whole team just wanted to do it for Sara, especially because she got hurt,” Howell said of Friday’s effort. “Everyone just came together with the idea that we really want to go to state.”

“Sara has a huge impact on the game, not just because of her skill but because of her energy, and she’s normally the person to bring us all up,” she added. “We all just came together and were like, we don’t have that tonight, so we need every single person on the court to be Sara.”

And, in a way, allowed for maybe the most meaningful trip to the state tourney thus far for the underdog Panthers.

“It’s definitely a lot more satisfying this time because I feel like we lost a lot,” said Howell, “and it proved a lot more in us, and so it means a lot more.”

The next step involves a state quarterfinal matchup at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday against No. 3-seeded Tualatin (23-2), which has taken the state by storm with a host of impressive outings.

“I think we just need to come out how we did tonight and just know that we are still state champions,” said Howell. “We haven’t lost yet, so we just need to come out and defend our title.”

CENTURY (30): Lawson 0, Carmean 2, A. Ervin 0, O. Ervin 0, Powell 0, Green 17, Keenan 0, Loza 6, Brownson 5, Osborn 0. Totals: 12 6-12 30.

SOUTH MEDFORD (58): Taulani 3, Warberg 14, Imperial-Viray 0, Barlow 13, Howell 14, Akpan 11, Andersen 1, Vasey 2. Totals: 20 13-19 58.

Century 5 9 10 6 — 30

South Medford 11 19 14 14 — 58

3-point goals — South Medford 5 (Warberg 2, Howell 2, Barlow 1).

Reach sports editor Kris Henry at khenry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035