Dick Oglesby
For The New Era
The boys basketball varsity team won the Phoenix Tournament over the weekend, beating South Umpqua and Eagle Point.
Sweet Home 81, S. Umpqua 46
The Huskies played South Umpqua Friday, using pressure on defense to create and take advantage of turnovers to jump out to a 39-27 lead by halftime.
Coach Kostanty Knurowski praised his team’s defense in the game, especially in the fourth quarter.
He said Sweet Home’s “constant pressure or push was very confusing and caused many playmaking opportunities” for his team and pulled the Huskies together.”
He said the Huskies’ shooting percentage was “very good” and he was impressed with the way they shared the ball in scoring and working as a team.
Drew Emmert led the scoring with 17 points, Gavin Kauffman, 16; Levi Marchbanks, 15; Josh Riggs, 12; Brent Moyer, seven; John Webb and Ryan Graville, five each; Jerome Coleman, three; and Brock Cota with one point.
Sweet Home 15 24 26 16 – 81
S. Umpqua 10 17 10 9 – 46
Sweet Home 52, Eagle Point 38
Against Eagle Point on Saturday, the Huskies pulled away in the second period after leading 11-8 at the first-quarter buzzer, taking a 23-15 advantage into the locker room.
They never let up, outscoring the 5A-division Eagles throughout the rest of the game.
Knurowski credited the win to good defense.
“We did not shoot well,” he said. “I was very pleased with the team’s performance in both games, winning all eight quarters for the two games.”
Gavin Kauffman led the scoring with 15 points, with Ryan Graville adding 12, Josh Riggs nine, Drew Emmert six, Brent Moyer and Levi Marchbanks four each and Jerome Coleman with 2.
Three players were named to the all-tournament team: Brent Moyer, Gavin Kauffman and Ryan Graville.
The Huskies are scheduled to host Elmira at 7 p.m. Saturday, weather permitting.
Sweet Home 11 12 15 14 – 52
Eagle Point 8 7 13 10 – 38