Sweet Home’s boys ran into a wall at Woodburn Friday night, losing 61-47, ending a nine-game winning streak and opening league play; but the wall is not unbreakable.
“That’s one of he toughest, if not the toughest, game in league,” Emmert said. “I don’t feel like we were outmatched.”
Each team does different things better, he said, and Woodburn did its things better Friday. “I’m excited to play them at home.”
Woodburn and Sweet Home swapped spots in state rankings, based on the game, with Sweet Home going to fifth and Woodburn to fourth.
“The first quarter, we played good defense,” Emmert said. “The second quarter, they got hot.”
Woodburn led just 9-8 after the first quarter but then scored 26 in the second to lead 35-23 at halftime.
“They’re super streaky,” Emmert said. “When they get going, they’re not going to stop. We’re not going to win very many games giving up 26 points in a quarter.”
But Sweet Home made headway in the second half, closing the gap to 47-37 in the third quarter.
The Huskies pulled within seven points about halfway through the fourth, Emmert said. “They hit a three with around three minutes that put them up 10.”
Sweet Home turned it over, and Woodburn scored again, putting the game out of reach.
Sweet Home shot 33 percent. Woodburn shot 51 percent. Sweet Home turned the ball over 18 times, while Woodburn turned it over 21 times.
Hunter Coulter led the Huskies with 14 points. R.J. Veliz led Woodburn with 23.
“We looked nervous,” Emmert said. “It was a big game. We’ve been playing really well, but we’re still pretty young.”
And he’s proud of the way his team battled back, he said.
Emmert is optimistic about league, but it’ll be a grind. The Huskies were scheduled to host two top-10 teams this week, Philomath at ninth on Tuesday and Stayton at seventh on Friday. They’ll host Cascade on Jan. 18. Games start at 5:30 p.m.
Sweet Home 8 15 14 10 – 47
Woodburn 9 26 12 14 – 61
Sweet Home scoring: Hunter Coulter 14, Casey Tow 9, Jake Swanson 7, Zach Luttmer 5, Nate Virtue 4, Aiden Tyler 3, Cade Gaskey 3, Colton Smith 2, Zach Zanona, Jasper Korn.
Woodburn scoring: R.J. Veliz 23, Barajas 9, Karsseboom 7, Cruz 5, Stebner 5, Miller 4, Doman 3, Rodriguez 3, Torres 2.
On Jan. 4, the Huskies traveled to La Pine to win their ninth game in a row 69-34.
“We came out a little rusty because we had not played in two weeks,” Emmert said. “It was a long ride over there. We looked a little sluggish and sloppy.”
Sweet Home was up 25-12 after a quarter, but La Pine closed the gap a little, trailing 35-24 at halftime.
“We picked it up a little at halftime,” Emmert said. The Huskies built a 53-27 lead in the third quarter.
Coulter and Swanson led scoring for the Huskies with 14 points each. Alex Farnsworth led La Pine with 12.
La Pine 12 12 3 7 – 34
Sweet Home 25 10 18 16 – 69
La Pine scoring: Alex Farnsworth 12, McKittrick 10, Notary 9, Plant 8, Brown 2, Turnsplenty 2, Matthews 1, Rohde, Pinckney, Bogart, Guillen.
Sweet Home scoring: Swanson 14, Coulter 14, Gaskey 9, Tyler 8, Luttmer 6, Austen Miller 4, Virtue 4, Tow 3, Zanona 3, Smith 2, Brayden Keesee 2, Korn, Owen Towry.