Sweet Home boys basketball lost at home in overtime to Newport last week 49-40, before losing to a Philomath team ranked first in the state in 4A on the road later in the week, 59-21.
Against Newport (7-9), the Huskies (1-15) were down two points in the waning seconds of regulation when sophomore Josh Aker threw a lob pass over the top of the defense to junior Collin Nicholson, who was able to finish the play with an and-one layup. But Nicholson missed the would-be go-ahead free throw, sending the game to overtime.
Overtime was all Cubs, as Newport won the extra frame 9-0.
Sweet Home had come back from a 28-19 deficit at halftime to force the game into OT, aided by a third quarter that the Huskies won 14-5.
Sweet Home outshot Newport 35.4% to 31.4% from the field, but the Huskies turned the ball over 15 times while only forcing 11.
Nicholson led the team in scoring, with 14 points on 7-10 shooting. Junior Nathan Aker had eight points on 3-12 shooting, while leading the team with six rebounds. Senior Dylan Luttmer also had eight points on 3-8 shooting, going 2-5 from beyond the arc.
Against Philomath (14-1), the Huskies were down 37-9 at half on the way to the 59-21 loss. Sweet Home shot just 15.8% from the field, while the Warriors shot at a 46.8% rate. The Huskies turned the ball over 17 times while forcing eight.
Nathan Aker led the team in scoring with 11 points on 3-13 shooting, with all of his field goals coming on three-pointers. Luttmer and senior Riley Korn each had four points.
This week the Huskies travel to North Marion (12-3, No. 6) for a 7 p.m. game on Tuesday, Jan. 31. They then host Stayton (12-4, No. 7) at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2.