Sweet Home’s boys are still seeking their first win in league basketball play after losing 68-50 at Cottage Grove Friday and 53-46 at home against Junction City Jan. 17.
Cottage Grove built a big early lead, said Coach Drew Emmert. The Huskies trailed 18-8 after one quarter and 34-22 at halftime.
“We got within 10, and they kind of pulled away,” Emmert said. By the end of the third quarter, the Lions were ahead 49-36.
Sweet Home got within 10 again in the fourth, but Cottage Grove pulled away yet again.
The Huskies had trouble connecting from a distance, sinking just three of 17 three-point attempts, but they shot better inside the line, 48.6 percent, compared to Cottage Grove, 38.9 percent. Cottage Grove sank a three six times out of 13 tries.
Cottage Grove went to the foul line more, shooting the ball 29 times and connecting on 22 of those, compared to 10 attempts, for seven points, for the Huskies.
“We played hard on defense,” Emmert said, but “they’re one of the best scoring teams in the state” and kept bringing six- to 10-point runs.
Daniel Virtue turned in a 19-point performance to lead the Huskies, shooting 8-14 on the night and 3-4 from the free throw line.
The JV2 team beat Cottage Grove and is 7-3. The JV team lost and is 6-8.
The varsity is 0-3 in league and 5-10 overall.
The Huskies were scheduled to travel to Elmira Tuesday and host Sutherlin at 5:45 Friday and Sisters at 7:15 p.m. next Tuesday.
Sweet Home 8 14 14 14 – 50
Cottage Grove 18 16 15 19 – 68
Sweet Home scoring: Daniel Virtue 19, Jake Swanson 9, Colton Smith 9, Keanu Aiona 5, Justin Carpenter 4, Keegan Holly 2, Nathan Virtue 2, Casey Tow, Alonso Perez, Hayden Nichol.
Cottage Grove scoring: Blake Sentman 15, Porter 12, Alonzo 11, Parent 10, Gipson 6, Grover 5, Ellingsworth 4, Bellamy 2, Husko 2, Cardwell 2, Giffen, Claflin.
Junction City 53, SH 46
The Huskies stayed ahead of Junction City most of the way earlier in the week.
They led 11-8 after one quarter and 25-23 at halftime. By the end of the third quarter, the Huskies still held a one-point lead, 38-37.
“They tied it, got a lead, and we just didn’t come back from it,” Emmert said.
Sweet Home had 20 more field goal attempts on the game compared to Junction City and shot just 36 percent, but Junction City hit the bucket 61.7 percent of the time.
As with Cottage Grove, the Huskies had their hardest time scoring threes, shooting 3-16 and dragging down their overall shooting percentage, while Junction City scored one of only three three-point attempts. The Huskies shot 44.1 percent on two-point field goals, while Junction City shot 63 percent.
“Our story for league is we just haven’t hit shots,” Emmert said. “We got some good looks. We just didn’t hit them.”
Aiona led the Huskies in scoring with 15 points. He stole the ball five times and collected four assists.
The JV teams lost their games to Junction City.
Junction City 8 15 14 16 – 53
Sweet Home 11 14 13 8 – 46
Junction City scoring: Kobe Martinez 22, Austin 8, Land 7, McClintock 6, Knabe 6, Edwards, Prescott.
Sweet Home scoring: Aiona 15, Carpenter 10, Smith 7, D. Virtue 6, Swanson 5, Holly 3, Nichol, N. Virtue.