The Sweet Home High School basketball team named junior Hunter Coulter its Most Valuable Player during its annual awards banquet on March 10.
“Coulter had a really good season,” said Coach Drew Emmert. “He just scored at such a high, consistent rate all year.”
Until about halfway through the season, Coulter was scoring 18 points per game, Emmert said. That changed as defenses were designed just to stop him.
Coulter also was first-team all-league.
Seniors Casey Tow and Zach Luttmer were co-Defensive Players of the Year. Emmert said they earned it with their work in the press, proving it by winning 50-50 balls most often.
Luttmer also won the team’s Hustle Award.
Coulter won the Free Throw Award shooting just under 70 percent to lead his team, and Jasper Korn won the Sporstmanship Award.
Russ Holly was JV Player of the Year.
The Huskies ended their season 6-6 in league and 15-9 overall losing to Phoenix in the play-in game of the state playoffs.
In the final eight tournament, which was canceled last week as part of measures the state is taking to stop the COVID-19 coronavirus spreading, three teams were Oregon West Conference rivals.
“It didn’t end like we wanted it to,” Emmert said, and Phoenix “was the toughest loss I’ve had as a coach.”
Overall, it was a good season, he said. The players bought into the program, and they produced the school’s best record since 2010.
They’ve created an identity for themselves, Emmert said. Everyone knew what they were about this year, and they were “a team people didn’t want to face. Overall, good season, but it would’ve been nice to go a little further.”
Four-year lettermen were seniors Zach Zanona and Casey Tow.
Third-year letter winners were seniors Jasper Korn and Zach Luttmer.
Earning their second letters were juniors Hunter Coulter, Aiden Tyler and Brayden Keesee. Junior Owen Towry earned his second letter. Although sidelined thanks to an injury this season, Emmert said he was at all practices and games and assisted the team all season long.
Seniors Tye Moore and Kai Bryson, junior Cole Baxter and sophomores Eddie Martinez and Russ Holly earned their first letters.