After losing 70-60 to North Marion in a basketball matchup of Huskies versus Huskies, Sweet Home’s boys moved on to beat three teams straight to win the Eagle Booster Club Invitational tournament held in Harrisburg.
The Huskies beat Toledo 61-58 Thursday, Harrisburg 58-38 Friday and Junction City 64-61 Saturday.
“We played good this weekend, or we played good enough anyway,” said Coach Drew Emmert. The Huskies got three good wins and took first place.
Against North Marion, ranked No. 2 in this week’s state poll, “we got in foul trouble,” Emmert said. “We just couldn’t stay out of foul trouble.”
North Marion made 53 free throw attempts, he said. “It’s hard to beat a top 4A team when you can’t play without fouling.”
Aiden Tyler, Casey Tow and Zach Luttmer all fouled out of the game.
“It was close all the way to the end,” Emmert said.
Late in the third, Sweet Home was ahead by one, and late in the fourth, Sweet Home was within four points.
“I would like to see them (North Marion) again,” he said.
Sweet Home held a 22-15 lead after one quarter. North Marion was edging out Sweet Home 31-30 at halftime. Sweet Home trailed 48-43 at the end of the third quarter.
Hunter Coulter led at the hoop with 21 points. Luttmer and Tow each added 13 points, Luttmer with seven rebounds.
Jasper Korn had seven points. Kai Bryson had three, with seven rebounds. Tyler scored two, and Zach Zanona scored one.
Against Toledo, which lost just two games and placed third in 2A state last year, the Huskies held a slim 20-18 lead after the first quarter and remained ahead 34-29 at halftime. Sweet Home led 53-44 after the third quarter.
Many coaches are picking Toledo to win the 2A this year, Emmert said, and it was a good game.
Toledo tied the Huskies near the end of the third, but Cole Baxter hit a three, followed by an offensive board and bucket by Bryson and another three by Baxter to take back the lead for good.
Coulter led Sweet Home scoring with 14 points. Tyler added 12, and Casey Tow added 10 with 11 rebounds.
Baxter and Luttmer scored eight each. Luttmer had six rebounds and five assists. Bryson scored four. Zanona scored three, and Korn scored two with five assists.
The Huskies started with “a really good first quarter,” Emmert said, leading 21-1.
The Huskies led 38-11 at halftime. Harrisburg played Sweet Home tough after that, while Emmert rotated guys out to rest them for Junction City the following day.
Coulter led Sweet Home with 14 points. Tyler scored nine. Luttmer and Tow each scored eight. Tow had seven rebounds and six assists.
Baxter scored seven. Tye Moore and Bryson each scored four. Korn and Brayden Keesee each scored two.
Junction City was close the whole way.
Sweet Home led 15-12 after the first quarter but fell behind by halftime, 28-26. Junction City held a 43-38 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Tyler got hot in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 of his 30 points and hitting multiple three-pointers to propel the Huskies into the lead.
Tyler led Sweet Home scoring with 30. He had four threes. Coulter added 15 points. Tow added nine with four steals. Luttmer scored five; Baxter, three; and Keesee, two.
Overall, “I think we definitely have a lot we need to work on,” before league starts, Emmert said. “It’s a good start for us.”
The Huskies were scheduled to visit Tillamook Tuesday evening, and they will host Molalla at 7 p.m. Friday and La Pine at 3 p.m. on Dec. 23.