The Huskies annihilated La Pine during the first half and held on to win 75-60 at home Friday to secure a third-place tie with La Pine in the Sky-Em in boys basketball.
To break the tie, the Huskies scratched out a second win, 60-54, Monday night at neutral ground in Sisters to send La Pine home for the season.
“They did a good job,” said Coach Tim Porter. The team is excited. “We get to go to the first round of playoffs. We’ll find out who we’re going to play Wednesday or late Tuesday night.”
One of the assistant coaches said the team is peaking at just the right time, Porter said. He agrees. “We couldn’t ask for a better time to peak.”
Sweet Home 60, La Pine 54
The Huskies held a 14-12 lead after one quarter but trailed 34-27 at halftime at Sisters.
“Things weren’t going our way,” Porter said, and La Pine slipped through with a couple of good fast breaks. “We got into quite a big lull in the second quarter.”
Half-court defense was solid all game, and things started breaking the Huskies way in the third as they held La Pine to 20 in the second half and took the lead with about two minutes left. They led 44-42 at the end of the quarter. The Huskies managed to widen the margin by another four points in the fourth.
Sweet Home 14 13 17 16 – 60
La Pine 12 22 8 12 – 54
Sweet Home scoring: Grant Kauffman 13, Hunter Jutte 13, Christian Porter 12, Bryce Daniels 10, Jason Sarter 8, Austin Dixon 2, Kyler Gaskey 2, Ryan Adams, Chace Hutchins Kevin Seiber, Kyle Rose.
La Pine scoring: Tyler Parsons 17, Wieber 13, Kraft 9, Boen 6, Syres 4, Siauw 3, Gacke 2, A. Ramirez, J. Ramirez, Skopp.
Sweet Home 75, La Pine 60
The Huskies dominated La Pine in the first quarter, leading 27-8 after the first quarter.
By halftime, the Huskies were ahead 50-25, and La Pine couldn’t crawl out of that hole.
The Huskies led 65-44 at the end of the third quarter. The final score was the closest of the game after the Huskies started pouring it on in the first.
“Obviously, we shot well,” Porter said. The Huskies were 4-4 from the three-point line.
“It was senior night, so they were ready to play,” Porter said. “I could see it in their eyes.”
The Huskies fired up the court for a half and then held on to most of their lead in the third, slipping by only four points.
“When you have a 25-point lead at halftime, it’s hard to keep the foot on the gas,” Porter said.
La Pine 8 17 19 16 – 60
Sweet Home 27 23 15 10 – 75
La Pine scoring: Parson 19; Kraft 14, Boen 10, Wieber 8, Gacke 4, J. Ramirez 2, Siauw 1, Young 1, A. Ramirez, Skopp.