The Huskies ended their boys basketball season losing 61-39 in the state play-in round at Central High School Friday night.
“We obviously would have liked to have gone further,” Coach Tim Porter said, but the team came up against a tough Central team, which won the state championship last year and in the 2009-10 school year.
JASON SARTER looks for two over Central’s leading scorer, Grant Lindley.
“We played them earlier in the year,” Porter said. “They were considerably better this time. They were really patient. They got the ball inside. They offensively rebounded really well. We had no answer.”
The Huskies had improved dramatically as well since they last saw Central, he said. “I think we improved definitely in our offensive patience. We became a much better team offensively. We always shot the ball well, but we did much better job picking our shots.
“Defensively, I think the kids just kind of got better and better.”
They especially improved on weak-side defense and against the ball, he said.
The Huskies’ shooting went cold Friday night, though. They had looks, but the shots didn’t fall. Central got off to an early lead, 16-5 after one quarter. The Huskies went on a run in the second to narrow the gap to five points.
“We cut it back to where it was manageable at least,” Porter said, but Central answered with its own run. The Huskies were down 36-23 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Panthers scored the first five points, eventually stretching their lead to 51-30.
Hunter Jutte led Sweet Home’s scoring with 12 points. Grant Kauffman was held to seven, and Christian Porter went scoreless.
“Grant wasn’t able to get off his shots as easily as he had been,” Tim Porter said. It was the same with Christian Porter. When he drove, the defense would collapse on him. He’d kick the ball back out. The Huskies were able to score a few points that way but not enough to get past the good Central defense.
Porter is happy with the season, he said. His team is happy.
“One of our goals was to get to the playoffs,” Porter said. “We did that. I am very proud of them.”
The Huskies finished their pre-league schedule with a 3-9 record. They finished 15-9 overall and 5-5 in league play, winning a tie for third against La Pine.
With a start like that, it would be easy for the players to hang their heads, Porter said. They didn’t. They played hard, worked hard and did a good job, he added.
Sweet Home 5 18 7 9 – 39
Central 16 20 15 10 – 61
Sweet Home scoring: Hunter Jutte 12, Bryce Daniels 10, Grant Kauffman 7, Kyle Rose 3, Kobe Galster 3, Jason Sarter 2, Austin Dixon 1, Kevin Seiber 1, Christian Porter, Ryan Adams, Chace Hutchins, Kyler Gaskey.
Central scoring: Grant Lindley 16, Fant 14, Chapman 9, Cutsforth 9, Fleming 7, Garza 2, Finnegan 2, Hobgood, Harkameljot, Bal, Magill, Kantola, Bansen, Nash.