Sweet Home was briefly number one in the Capital Conference boys basketball league after defeating Stayton 42-38 at home.
The Huskies lost 42-41 at North Marion Friday, allowing Stayton and Central back into what amounted to a three-way tie for first.
The Huskies followed up with a win, 61-51, at Cascade Saturday.
Stayton was a “great game,” Coach Mark Risen said. “Both teams played well. Both teams executed and played really hard.”
Stayton and Sweet Home traded the lead throughout the game. After the first quarter, the score was 8-8. Stayton edged the Huskies out by halftime, leading 23-20. The third quarter, featuring a dunk by Aaron Hegge, went to the Huskies as they closed the gap by one to trail 33-31.
The Huskies held onto a slim two- to four-point lead late in the fourth quarter.
Leading Husky scoring against Stayton was Hegge with 15. Anthony Mink added 12. Nik Walker scored six; Kevin Furry, five; Ricky Howe, two; and Sam Posthuma, two.
That win gave the Huskies sole ownership of first place before going to North Marion.
The Huskies trailed early on at North Marion finishing the first quarter 9-6. The best lead they had was five points. At halftime, Sweet Home led 25-23. After the third, North Marion trailed 30-29.
With 7.9 seconds left in the game, Posthuma got a put back on a missed shot by Furry to put the Huskies in the lead.
“We were right about what they were going to do,” Coach Risen said. North Marion looked to leading scorer Josh Miller to take the win. The Huskies ended up triple teaming Miller. Miller backed out of the trap and saw an open lane to Ty Brack. Brack scored the winning layup with just .8 seconds left.
“We blew an assignment at the end that cost us the game,” Coach Risen said.
Mink led the Huskies with 12 points. Hegge scored nine; Walker, seven; Furry, seven; Tim Matuszak, three; Posthuma, two; and Howe, one. For North Marion, Miller led with 13. Brack and Brent Kahle each scored 10. Steve Miller added nine.
The loss let Central and Stayton back into the three-way tie for first in the league.
Sweet Home sent a “firestorm” to Cascade the next day at Cascade winning 61-51.
The Huskies had a 19-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and had stretched the lead to 38-23 by halftime. That turned into 50-34 at the end of the third.
“They got after it and got it done,” Coach Risen said. The team had a bunch of guys involved in the offense and executed crisply on offense and defense. The Huskies did all the little things that win games, forcing turnovers and coming up with loose balls.
Mink led the Huskies with 18 points. Hegge added 16; Furry, 12; Matuszak, nine; Howe, four; and Posthuma, two. Richman led Cascade with 13 points. Shawn Evans added 11.
“We’re in good shape,” Coach Risen said. “We’ve obviously got to take care of business this week.”
Right now, there’s a potential for a three-way tie to finish the season. A new rule will prevent a repeat of last year when the Huskies, a league co-champion, were eliminated during playoffs by fourth-place North Marion.
This year, all three champion teams would go on to state, playing games to establish seeding from first through third.
“We’ve got the playoff spot locked up,” Coach Risen said. Now his team is trying to force its way into the conference title. In the three-way tie, the Huskies will know they have at least made the state sub-tournament.
Central was 8-3 Monday with one game left against Molalla, 5-5. Stayton still had North Marion, 4-6, and Sisters, 1-9, to play. The Huskies were scheduled to face Sisters on Tuesday and Molalla on Thursday.
Standings
Central 8-3
Stayton 7-3
Sweet Home 7-3
Molalla 5-5
North Marion 4-6
Cascade 3-7
Sisters 1-9