Live updates: Oregon (OSAA) high school girls basketball 6A state tournament championship game, South Medford vs. Benson (3/9/2024)
The Oregon 6A girls basketball state tournament wraps up Saturday with the championship game between No. 1 South Medford and No. 6 Benson at the University of Portland's Chiles Center.
6A preview | Players to watch | Top storylines | Our predictions | Bracket
Follow this post for live updates beginning with the 8:45 p.m. tipoff, and stick with SBLive Oregon later for complete coverage.
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Photo by Taylor Balkom
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LIVE UPDATES
(most recent updates at the top)
FINAL: South Medford 48, Benson 38 > after a dozen years, the Panthers are back on top!
Benson loses ball on following possession, SM bench starting to smell it as Jordan Barlow hits 2 FTs for 46-35 lead 48 secs left
Mauriana Hashemian-Orr commits the take foul, her fifth. Fouls out with 11 pts
Akpan with another monster offensive rebound, gets fouled, and splits 2 FTs. Benson can't corral rebound, so still SM ball 107 left 44-35 - timeout Panthers
Timeout SM: Benson just trading baskets, which isn't doing the Techsters any good. SM 43-35 w 143 left
Timeout SM: That 3-point play took a lot of the air out of the mostly Benson crowd. 341 left
Taylor Young responds with a coast-to-coast drive and 3-point play, drawing 4th foul from Mahogany Chandler-Roberts in process. 39-30 355 to play
Eboni Clay finally hits Benson's first 3-pointer of the night with 525 to play, adds another short jumper. it's 36-30 and LOUD in the Chiles Center
Timeout Benson: 640 4Q SM up 32-21
Since starting 3 of 25, Benson has made 4 of its last 5. Akpan just picked up her 4th foul and will have a seat with 718 left. How big will this be?
End 3rd: South Medford 31, Benson 18 — can Techsters mount a rally?
Akpan pulls down her 12th rebound to set the tournament record w 48.
Media timeout 347 3Q: Benson's shooting percentage is down to 12.5% (3 of 24), SM leads 29-12
SM holds Benson to 3 FGs (16.7% shooting) over 16 minutes. Akpan finishes half with 9 rebs, so she just needs 3 to erase Cameron Brink from the record books.
HALFTIME: South Medford 22, Benson 10
Panthers open quarter on 7-1 run, with Taylor Young capping it with a steal and layup. Timeout Benson 420 2Q SM up 15-8
Mayen Akpan with 7 rebs, needs 4 to tie and 5 to break 6A tourney record. She just picked up her 2nd foul w 525 2Q
End 1st: South Medford 8, Benson 7
128 1Q - Ceron-Romero returns to the floor.
They take the floating media as she's attended to, and she's able to get up and walk off gingerly to the opposite end of the court to the SM bench. She's now off in the corner with the trainer looking at her
Kim Ceron-Romero fouled w 212 left, cannot get up, trainers working on right leg. From here, looked like knee or ankle crumpled from contact and contorted
At the first media timeout w 308 1Q, South Medford leads 6-3. Neither team can establish a flow offensively.
Benson wins the tip, and away we go
In the 3rd/5th place game, Clackamas took out its frustration of missing a chance to repeat as champion by crushing Willamette 65-37.
In the 4th/6th place game, Grants Pass capped its first tournament appearance in the past 18 years with a 54-52 victory over Jefferson.
Here's how the Techsters got here: Benson had no fear entering semifinal showdown with mighty Clackamas: ‘They’ve got to worry about us’
Here's how the Panthers punched their ticket: South Medford players believed in themselves — and now Panthers are back in Oregon 6A girls basketball final
Tipoff is scheduled for 8:45 p.m.
