The Huskies beat Siuslaw 43-41 after a tough fight Monday night on the road in boys varsity basketball after losing 57-41 at home to Cascade Friday and 69-54 to Jefferson on Dec. 12.
The Huskies are 4-4. Around the league, Sutherlin is 6-2, Junction City is 5-3 and Sisters is 4-2. Cottage Grove holds a 3-3 record, and Elmira is 2-5.
The Huskies will host Madras Thursday at 5:45 p.m.
Madras looks like a run-and-gun team that scores a lot of points but also gives up a lot of points, said Coach Drew Emmert. He hadn’t spent much time yet looking at Madras by Monday evening.
Madras is 1-5 overall this season.
Siuslaw
“That was a tough road game,” Emmert said. Siuslaw set up in a zone and stayed there most of the game.
The Huskies hit shots early but fell off a bit after halftime and had to scrap through a tough second half to get the win.
Hayden Nichol had some big free throws at the end,” Emmert said. Andrew Freitag led scoring with 14 points, and Nate Virtue hit three threes in the first half and scored 13 on the game.
“It was just a grind,” Emmert said, but “it was good after last week. It was good to come back with a win.”
The Huskies led 13-8 after one quarter and 25-18 at halftime. Siuslaw closed its deficit and trailed just 31-29 at the end of the third quarter.
Sweet Home 13 12 6 12 – 43
Siuslaw 8 10 11 12 – 41
Sweet Home scoring: Andrew Freitag 14, Nate Virtue 13, Hayden Nichol 4, Jake Swanson 4, Colton Smith 3, Keegan Holly 3, Zach Zanona, Casey Tow.
Siuslaw scoring: Kyle King 15, Rollin 14, Hickson 4, Brandt 4, McGallian 2, Wynn 2, Hennessee.
Cascade
“They’re a really athletic team,” Emmert said. “We played with them. We had it in single digits.”
A couple of late-game turnovers gave Cascade an advantage, and the Huskies started fouling to stop the clock, which spread the Cougars’ lead.
The Huskies led 13-10 after the first quarter. Cascade erased it and took a 20-19 lead at halftime. Sweet Home trailed 37-31 at the end of the third quarter.
Freitag, Keegan Holly and Jake Swanson led Sweet Home scoring with 10 points each.
Cascade 10 10 17 20 – 57
Sweet Home 13 6 12 10 – 41
Cascade scoring: Treyden Harris 21, Ball 11, Molan 8, LeDay 8, Sampson 4, Nolan 2, Starnes 2, Duncan 1, Stehno, Banks.
Sweet Home scoring: Holly 10, Swanson 10, Freitag 10, Smith 6, Nichol 5, Zanona, Nick Marler, Virtue, Tow.
Jefferson
“We just didn’t come out ready to play,” Emmert said. “We didn’t make a single shot outside the key against Jefferson. We just didn’t play very good defense.”
Jefferson led 14-10 after a quarter and 28-21 at halftime. It continued to expand its lead and led 43-34 after three quarters.
Swanson led the Huskeis with 15 points, while Freitag contributed another 14. Smith added another 10.
Sweet Home scoring 13 10 11 20 – 54
Jefferson 15 14 14 26 – 69
Sweet Home scoring: Swanson 15, Freitag 14, Smith 10, Holly 8, Nichol 2, Trey Lucero 2, Zanona 2, Tow 1, Marler, Virtue.
Jefferson scoring: Leon Romo Jr. 16, Cody Braun 16, Rodriguez 12, Sepulvada 12, Eriksen 6, Agular 6, Gantumur 1.
Girls basketball
The Sweet Home varsity girls basketball team lost to Jefferson 61-24 on the road Dec. 12 and 38-25 to Siuslaw Monday on the road.
They next will host Madras at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at home.