Sean C. Morgan
In a microcosm of their season, the Huskies dug themselves out of a 19-0 first-quarter deficit to get within four and threaten the top-ranked boys basketball team in the state before foul trouble broke their momentum Saturday night at Philomath and left them with a 73-51 loss.
The Huskies faced the Philomath Warriors in the first round of state playoffs after defeating fourth-ranked Gladstone and winning six straight league games to move from last place in the Sky-Em to third place. The Huskies were ranked 33rd going into the playoffs.
The rankings are provided by the Oregon School Activities Association based on records and the quality of opponents.
“It was a good game,” said Coach Tim Porter. “I wish we’d had a little better luck early on. Generally, a 19-point lead is hard to overcome.”
The Huskies were on Warriors star Ben DeSaulnier with a box and one, with Hunter Jutte assigned to him, but DeSaulnier hit shots early, Porter said.
“We weren’t hitting shots early.”
The Pilomath 1-3-1 defense made it hard to get inside and kick the ball out to a perimeter shooter, Porter said. “We weren’t getting clean looks early on.”
The Warriors won the tip, and DeSaulnier quickly scored a three and another bucket to start a 19-0 run. With less than three minutes left in the first quarter, Grant Kauffman finally broke the ice for the Huskies when he sank a three. He added a field goal followed by a three from Bryce Daniels to trail Philomath 22-8 at the end of the quarter.
“He (Kauffman) hit some shots and got some penetration into the middle that we weren’t able to get early on,” Porter said. Jutte expended a lot of energy keeping up with DeSaulnier.
“He was exhausted,” Porter said. “He was working hard.”
So the team needed someone else to step up, Porter said. Kauffman did it to get things going, and “then there were a lot of people stepping up.”
The Huskies chipped away at the lead in the second half to pull within eight by halftime, 35-27.
Mostly, Sweet Home continued its game plan in the second quarter, but the Huskies tightened the box to take away the inside game, Porter said.
“We just persevered,” Kauffman said, and they were able to come back against that early Warriors run.
Philomath likes to score off the transition from turnovers, and they like to get the ball to DeSaulnier, Porter said. Barring that, they like to go inside to score. Jutte did a good job on DeSaulnier, but DeSaulnier hit almost everything, hitting everything but a free throw and an outside jumper.
The Huskies managed to shut down the transition game pretty well, Porter said. “We just had to tighten up our interior defense a little to keep the ball out of the middle.”
After halftime, the Warriors scored two inside followed by a three from Kyle Rose. Trading baskets, Sweet Home closed it to six on a three from Daniels.
Kauffman fouled Koeby Bennett, who hit the front end at the line to extend the Warriors lead to 42-35. Rose hit another three to bring the Huskies within four points, 42-38.
“I rarely call plays from the sideline,” Porter said. The players do a great job of finding the person who’s hot. “I was watching him (Rose) during warmups. He was shooting the lights out in warmups. They were getting him the ball, and he was knocking them down.”
Philomath hit a bucket, expanding its lead to 44-38. Kauffman put a layup into the hoop, but he was called for charging.
“That’s why I went ballistic,” Porter said, referring to a technical foul he received after throwing his tie on the floor. He said he didn’t want to second-guess the referee, who had a different angle on the play, but Porter didn’t think it looked like a charge.
Had the call gone the other way, it would have been a block and Kauffman would have counted the basket and shot one free throw, bringing the Huskies to within three. Instead DeSaulnier hit the back end of the free throws, and Warrior Joe Noble scored another hoop to lead 47-38.
“I knew in that moment that was a huge momentum swing,” Porter said. “I knew that moment when it happened. The truth of the matter is they’re a dang good team.”
Tyler Funk traded hoops with Noble one more time, and Philomath led 49-40 at the end of the quarter.
Philomath stretched its lead as Jutte, who had a technical early in the game after sustaining a cut underneath his eye, and Kauffman fouled out.
Daniels hit four threes to lead Husky scoring with 16. Kauffman and Rose each scored two threes, and Jutte recorded one.
“The thing I’ve told every parent, nearly every adult, I’ve talked to is just how proud I am of these guys for sticking to it and not giving up,” Porter said. Sweet Home lost 13 of its first 14 games, including its first four league games, and the preseason win wasn’t even recognized for ranking.
Porter said many other teams could not have that kind of season and then turn it around like these Huskies did.
It’s a credit to them, he said. “The kids were just amazing. They really were. That game was like a microcosm of our season, a really poor start and fight, fight, fight to get back.”
They would like to have won more during the regular season, Porter said, but “it’s the ending that matters most.”
Had the Huskies won more preseason games, they likely would not have faced Philomath so early in the playoffs, Porter said, but it’s better to start weak and finish strong than to start strong and finish weak.
“I’ve coached a lot of teams,” Porter said. “It was a frustrating season, but I’ll remember it forever.”
No one thought the Huskies would end up going to playoffs, let alone making it into the second round of the state playoffs (technically the play-in round and the first round of playoffs).
“I’m definitely proud of where we’ve gotten, especially how we started,” Kauffman said.
Sweet Home 8 19 13 11 – 51
Philomath 22 13 14 24 – 73
Sweet Home scoring: Bryce Daniels 16, Grant Kauffman 13, Kyle Rose 8, Hunter Jutte 7, Ryan Adams 3, Tyler Funk 2, Brett Blachly, Tucker Porter, Justin Tow, Tyler Plebuch, Daniel Virtue.
Philomath scoring: Ben DeSaulnier 29, K. Bennett 14, Marchant 13, Noble 6, Chambers 6, Ecker 2, S. Bennett 2, Lehman, Rhodes, Brattain, Buddingh, Larson. Photos by Sean C. Morgan
KYLE ROSE shoots the three-pointer to bring the Huskies within four points of Philomath. See more state basketball photos in the gallery at sweethomenews.com.