Benny Westcott
Following the first playoff appearance and 10-win season in 30 years by a Sweet Home girls basketball team last winter, Sweet Home girls basketball Head Coach Michelle Knight was named 4A Oregon West Conference Coach of the Year in March.
This year Kinight is setting even bigger goals for her squad.
She wants to see her Huskies finish in the top 15 in the state, win 15 games, and make it to the playoffs again.
The most pivotal piece in the pursuit of a playoffs berth will be senior guard Brooke Burke, who returns after taking home the team’s Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year awards last season, as well as OWC First Team honors.
As a junior, Burke scored 448 points while averaging 19 points per game. She also recorded 51 assists, 38 steals and 76 rebounds. She enters the season with 963 career points.
“She has a great deal of experience, leadership and composure,” Knight said of Burke.
The team’s other returning starter is sophomore guard Kaylynn Mamac, who was the OWC’s only freshman named as an All-League Honorable Mention last season.
Mamac recorded 91 points and four points per game last season, in addition to 149 rebounds, 34 steals, and 27 assists. She also drew 12 charges.
“She just grew so much last year, so she’s starting off so much further ahead than she did last year,” Knight said of Mamac.
The Huskies also return senior guard Meeja Bitter and junior guard Madison Duncan.
The Huskies will miss the inside presence of center Adaira Sleutel, who graduated after last season with 254 points and 11 points per game, plus 268 rebounds, 41 assists and 35 steals. Sleutel was a Second Team All-League selection last season.
Without the 6-foot-tall post player they had in Sleutel, the Huskies plan to execute a different style of play.
“We don’t have the height that we’ve had, but we have more quickness than we’ve had in the past,” Knight said. “It’ll be a little different game for us, but it should be exciting. We have some speed this year. And we have great shooters and kids returning who know our offense.”
Without Sleutel, whom Knight said averaged double digit rebounds per game, the coach noted that “we’ll have to rely on getting in the right position and boxing people out to be able to get those kinds of rebounds again.”
On defense, the Huskies will try to utilize their speed to good effect.
“I’m hopeful that we can be really quick on defense and run some full court press,” Knight said.
As far as a general game plan, Knight said, “We’re just going to build on what we’ve been working on for the past few years. We’re not doing anything crazy. We’re just going to keep building on what we already know. I’m looking forward to getting the first game out of the way so we know what we need to work on.”
Knight said she expects the OWC to be strong; Philomath, the defending 4A state champion, Cascade and Stayton all finished last season ranked in the top 10 in the state and are perennially among the 4A’s top teams.
Knight said that in addition to Burke, Mamac, Bitter, and Duncan, the Husky varsity team will also include sophomore Averie Haskell and freshmen Aubrey Newberry and Addy Vannice. Juniors Keely Boyd and Adrienne Funk and sophomore Jocelyn Fairchild will be swing players for the Huskies.
Sweet Home has 24 girls in the program this year, a higher number than the last four seasons. Knight said the Huskies will be able to field a JV2 team for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
Knight is assisted by Nick Tyler, Brittany Brownell, Erika Evans and April Underwood.
The Huskies kick off the season at Elmira at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 30. Their home opener is against Cottage Grove at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2.