Sweet Home boys basketball (2-16, No. 32 in 4A) is still searching for their first league win after last week’s losses to Newport (7-9, No. 24) and Cascade (12-3, No. 4). The Huskies find themselves at the bottom of the 4A-3 Oregon West Conference entering the second half of league play.
Things got away from the Huskies early at home against the Cubs on Tuesday, as Newport held a 15-2 lead by the end of the first quarter. The results would only get marginally better for the Huskies from there on out, as they lost every subsequent quarter, ultimately falling 53-25.
“We didn’t come out with very much energy, and they hit a lot of shots early,” said Head Coach Drew Emmert. “We didn’t play very well. I thought we’d have more energy, especially at home. We had a really bad first quarter in which they made a big run.”
He added that his squad “didn’t rebound particularly well,” had 20 turnovers, and missed some easy shots early in the game.
Senior Russell Holly led his team in scoring with eight points on 3-for-10 shooting. Junior Evan Towry added seven points on 3-for-8 shooting.
On Friday, a Cascade lineup featuring a 6’11″‘ and 6’6″ player as well as a fleet of guards over six feet proved to be too much for the Huskies, who don’t start anyone above the six foot threshold.
Despite this size differential, Emmert was proud that his team managed to outrebound the Cougars 32-22.
“We were pretty tough and disciplined boxing out, and had guards flying in to get rebounds,” the coach said.
The Huskies lost the tough road contest 56-25, hurt by a tough night of shooting, going 27% from the field.
“We’re struggling to put 32 minutes together,” Emmert said. “In our league, you have to play super tough for 32 minutes to be successful, especially on the road.”
Sweet Home hosts Woodburn (12-6, No. 14) at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 1. They then take on Philomath (11-3) on the road at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4.