Sweet Home narrowly missed taking down Sisters at home Feb. 6, losing 43-36, in boys basketball; but the Huskies slipped by Elmira 53-50 on the road Friday.
“We’re playing at a totally different level than we were three weeks ago,” said Coach Drew Emmert. It started with a narrow loss to league-leading Sutherlin, and it continued on into the next week when the Huskies were tied with Sisters, the other Sky-Em leader, with just two minutes left in the game.
Unfortunately, a lot would have to go just right for the Huskies to see a play-in game, Emmert said, although it is possible if they win their final two regular season games.
The Huskies were scheduled to visit Cottage Grove Tuesday and will host Junction City Friday at 7:15 p.m.
Right now, Sutherlin and Sisters, both 7-1, are tied for first place in the Sky-Em League. Sutherlin is ranked 10th in the state. Sisters is ranked 14th. Sutherlin beat Sisters but lost to Cottage Grove once. Sutherlin and Sisters will finish the regular season playing against each other Friday.
Cottage Grove, 5-3, is in third and ranked 12th in the state, while Junction City, 3-5, is fourth. Sweet Home, 2-6, is in fifth; and Elmira, 0-8, is in sixth place.
Sisters 43, Sweet Home 36
The Outlaws led the Huskies 12-9 after the first quarter. The Huskies took a 17-14 lead near halftime, but Sisters recovered and finished the half ahead 20-17.
Sisters added another bucket to its lead, 28-23, by the end of the third quarter. The Huskies picked at the lead and managed to tie the game up 31-31 with a few minutes left on the game clock.
The Outlaws hit a couple of big shots and sank all of their free throws to build a seven-point winning margin.
“We held them to 43,” Emmert said. Except for their loss to Sutherlin, it was the lowest scoring game for Sisters during league play. “We dictated the pace really well. We competed super hard. We stuck to our game plan really good.”
Their biggest worry was 6-foot 9-inch center Ty Horner, who has already signed to play Division II basketball, Emmert said. He is among the best layers in the state.
“Jake (Swanson) played really well,” Emmert said. He outscored and outplayed Horner, who scored eight for the Outlaws.
“We knew we had to get good shots,” Emmert said. The Huskies couldn’t try to force them because “he’s just going to block them.”
They played their offense patiently, Emmert said. On defense, Sweet Home trapped all of the Outlaws, forcing Horner to bring the ball down and keep the Outlaws out of the offense they’re used to.
“We just tried to make them shoot oer the top of us,” Emmert siad. When Horner got the ball, they would double him.
“I was really pleased with how we played,” Emmert said.
Swanson scored 15 points to lead the Huskies offense. Hayden Nichol led on the boards, with six rebounds.
Zach Anderson led Sisters with 14 points.
The Huskies shot 30.2 percent from the field, while Sister shot 38.7 percent. Sweet Home struggled at the foul line, shooting 46.7 percent, while the Outlaws shot 81.8 percent.
Sisters led on the boards, pulling down 33 rebounds. The Huskies had 23 rebounds. Sweet Home turned the ball over nine times, while Sisters turned it over 15 times.
Sisters 12 8 8 15 – 43
Sweet Home 9 8 6 13 – 36
Sisters scoring: Zach Anderson 14, Richard 9, Horner 8, Jack Berg 8, Eagan 2, Lake 2, Rush. Totals: 12 18-22 43
Sweet Home scoring: Jake Swanson 15, Colton Smith 7, Keegan Holly 7, Hayden Nichol 5, Zack Zanona 2, Nate Virtue, Casey Tow. Totals: 13 7-15 36
Three-point goals: Sisters: Berg. Sweet Home: Nichol, Smith, Swanson.
Sweet Home 53, Elmira 50
The Huskies held a 53-50 lead as Elmira’s Kellen Smith attempted a three-pointer to take the game into overtime. The shot missed, and the Huskies recorded the win.
Sweet Home held a 10-8 lead after the first quarter and a 21-17 lead at halftime. The Huskies pulled away in the third quarter to build a 36-29 lead, the largest of the game; but Elmira rallied and got within 36-34 by the end of the quarter.
The Falcons went ahead 41-39 in the fourth before the Huskies wrestled back a small lead they held till the end of the game.
It went down to the buzzer, Emmert said. Regardless of the team’s record, Elmira has been “playing teams in our league pretty tough. We played solid. They played really good too.”
Holly led the Huskies with 16 points, with five assists and five steals, Emmert said. Colton Smith hit a big three and two free throws to keep the Huskies in it in the fourth quarter. Nate Virtue had three big offensive boards in the fourth, two at the end of the game, and added 11 to the scoreboard.
Kellen Smith is one of the best players, if not the best, players in the league, Emmert said, and when he had the ball, Sweet Home would pack it in around him.
Overall, they did a pretty good job on him, Emmert said, holding him to nine points.
Logan Duquette led the Falcons with 11 points.
Sweet Home shot 43.5 percent from the field and 45 percent from the free throw line. The Falcons shot 41 percent from the field and 81.3 percent from the foul line.
Elmira rebounded the ball 29 times, while the Huskies had 22 rebounds. The Huskies gave up 11 turnovers. Elmira had 20.
Sweet Home 10 11 15 17 – 53
Elmira 8 9 17 16 – 50
Sweet Home scoring: Holly 16, Tow 9, Smith 8, Nichol 7, Swanson 2, Zanona. Totals 20 9-20 53
Elmira scoring: Totals: 16 13-16 50
Three-point goals: Nichol, Smith, Virtue, Tow. Elmira: 5.
Junior Varsity
The junior varsity beat Sisters 56-45. Hunter Coulter led with 16 points. The Huskies lost to Elmira 60-51, with Cade Gaskey leading Sweet Home with 14 points.
The JV2 beat Sisters 44-35. Brayden Keesee led with 12 points, and Owen Towry added nine. The Huskies beat Elmira 43-40. Keesee led with 12 points. Aiden Tyler added 10.