After falling deeply behind against 5A South Albany in their season opener at home Nov. 29, the boys varsity basketball team fought back to three-point deficit in the third quarter before losing 59-48.
The Huskies lost 51-41 at home Friday to Douglas.
“We played really good against South Albany,” said Coach Drew Emmert. “We were awful against Douglas.”
Against South Albany, neither team got much going early in the game. The Huskies scored first, with the score tied 6-6 late in the first quarter.
The Rebels picked up the pace and built a 12-6 lead in the last couple of minutes of the quarter. They built a 13-point lead in the second quarter before entering halftime ahead 26-15.
“They’re really good,” Emmert said, “We played them really tough. We got within three midway through the third quarter.”
The Huskies clawed their way back and trailed just 26-23 almost halfway through the third quarter, but South Albany cut them off and erased those gains on a third-quarter run. Sweet Home ended the third quarter trailing 42-29.
Once the Rebels went on that run, “we just never could split the difference,” Emmert said,. “I was pleased with our effort, although obviously you want to win it.”
Colton Smith led scoring with 18 points for the Huskies – 15 of them from a 5-8 performance behind the three-point line. Shooting 6-11 overall, he added another field goal and a free throw to the scoreboard. He had three assists, two steals and four rebounds.
Andrew Freitag, who transferred from South Albany this year, came off the bench to score 10 points, pull down eight rebounds and steal the ball twice against his former school.
Jake Swanson scored seven, with five rebounds; Nate Virtue, five, with a three-pointer and five rebounds; Keegan Holley, four, with nine rebounds and five assists; Hayden Nicol, two; and Casey Two, two. Trey Lucero and Zach Zanona played but did not score.
The Huskies
The Huskies finished the game shooting 37 percent from the field ahead of South Albany, 34.6 percent. The foul line paid off for the Rebels, who shot 12-19, while the Huskies shot just 2-9.
South Albany beat the Huskies on the boards, pulling down 12 offensive boards while the Huskies pulled down eight. The Rebels had 29 defensive rebounds, while the Huskies had 26.
The Huskies turned the ball over 20 times, while South Albany had 22 turnovers.
“We were not ready to play Friday,” Emmert said. “We started slow. We never really picked it up.”
Late in the first quarter, Douglas piled up a 17-10 lead. The Huskies were able to close the gap a little, trailing 29-24 at halftime and got within a point, 33-32 late in the third quarter. The Trojans led 38-35 at the end of the third quarter.
The Huskeis shot poorly on a stretch that lasted from late in the third quarter into the fourth quarter, not scoring at all for six to seven minutes, Emmert said. Overall, they shot 25.5 percent from the field, going 2-19 from the three-point line. They shot perfectly, 11-11, from the charity stripe.
Douglas shot 46.5 percent from the field, with two three-pointers, and 6-14 from the free throw line.
“It’s a game we actually could’ve had,” Emmert said. “We just weren’t ready.”
The team was frustrated, he said, and the Huskies are looking “for a fresh start this week,” Emmert said. “We’re trying to get our chemistry down.”
The team has two new players who transferred from other schools and many returning players are in different roles this season, he said. They’re still figuring it out.
Holly led scoring for the Huskies with 15 points. He shot 7-7 from the free throw line, roped in a rebound and recorded two assists.
Freitag scored 11 with 10 rebounds and two steals; Swanson, nine, with six rebounds; Virtue, four, with seven rebounds; and Smith, two. Nichol, Lucero, Zanona and Tow played but did not score.
Sweet Home had more production on the boards, with 17 offensive rebounds and 23 defensive rebounds. The Trojans had just six offensive rebounds and 22 defensive rebounds. Each team turned the ball over eight times.
The Huskies were scheduled to play at Central Linn Monday evening. They host Phoenix at 5:45 p.m. Friday and North Valley at 4 p.m. Saturday. They travel to Jefferson on Dec. 12.