Dick Oglesby
For The New Era
The boys basketball team opened Valco League play last week with home games against Central and Philomath, losing both by a slim margin.
Philomath 57, Sweet Home 52
Sweet Home started strong, trailing the visitor by just one point after the first quarter, but the Huskies went cold offensively in the second period as Philomath led by as many as 17 points before Sweet Home started to close the gap, trailing by 12 at halftime, 31-19.
The Huskies turned up the heat defensively in the third period and Josh Riggs, who played an excellent game both on the offensive and defensive boards, made his presence felt with rebounds and blocked shots as Sweet Home started inching its way back into the game in the third period, trailing 48-35 at the end of the third quarter, a score that is slightly deceptive because Philomath hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to extend its lead.
But that failed to snuff the Huskies’ drive and they came alive offensively in the final period. Ryan Graville found his outside shot in the fourth quarter with three three-pointers as he led the team with a total of 16 points.
Sweet Home got as close as four points in the final two minutes, but Philomath’s Dustin Straub hit four free throws in the final minute to ice the win for the visitors.
Behind Graville’s 16 points, Levi Marchbanks and Gavin Kauffman had nine for the Huskies, Drew Emmert eight, Jerome Coleman six and Josh Riggs four.
Sweet Home 12 7 16 17 €“ 52
Warriors 13 18 17 9 €“ 57
Central 51, Sweet Home 45
The Huskies got off to a good start against the Panthers, leading 23 to 22 at the half despite a low-scoring first quarter as the Huskies scored seven and the Panthers eight.
Sweet Home had a 23-22 lead at halftime, but Central started pulling away in a back-and-forth second half, using its height €“ the Panthers had three players listed at 6-3 €“ to work their way to a six-point win at game’s end.
Kauffman scored 18 points to lead the Huskies, with Graville adding 10, Marchbanks seven, Riggs five, Brent Moyer and Emmert two each and Brock Cota one.
Sweet Home 7 16 9 13 €“ 45
Central 8 14 12 17 €“ 51