Sweet Home 67, Sisters 55
After a 32-24 halftime deficit, the Huskies poured on a big offense that energized a tough defense, leading to a 67-55 win against Sisters at home Friday night.
The Huskies trailed 18-13 at the end of the first quarter.
“I thought we were fighting hard to stay in the game,” Coach Kostanty Knurowski said. The Huskies didn’t play their best defense, but they worked really hard to get the shots they needed to stay in the game.
In the third quarter, the Huskies nearly erased the deficit when they got hot offensively, trailing just 45-44.
“It was almost like our offense energized our defense,” Knurowski said, and Sisters offensive production trailed off, just 23 points in the second half.
It’s usually the other way around, big defensive plays charge up the offense, but the Huskies made a couple of big buckets, and it turned the intensity around in the game, Knurowski said.
“They’re a good defensive team,” Knurowski said. “But in the second half, we outscored them by 20.”
That kind of turnaround is relatively unheard of, Knurowski said, but one of Sisters’ top players hit foul trouble in the third.
Eli Harrison picked up his third and fourth fouls in the third quarter and fouled out halfway through the fourth, Knurowski said. “He’s a very talented player. Losing him changes the dynamics.”
Throughout the game, Cody Felkins and Taylor Mauch gave outstanding performances, Knurowski said. Mauch and Felkins, scoring 13 and 14 respectively, were active on the boards, and Mauch had his hands on a lot defensively.
Felkins hit the boards and took his time to create effective, efficient buckets, Knurowski said. Jeremy White led a number of offensive and defensive sparks, and Paul Kim and Kyle Winslow both came off the bench for good minutes to rest the starters.
Gavin Kauffman had “another very impressive game,” scoring 27, Knurowski said.
It’s the Huskies’ first win in the Sky-Em, he said. “That’s always good. It’s even better against an opponent like Sisters. They’re at least a top three team in our league if not higher.”
Sisters 18 14 13 10 – 55
Sweet Home 13 11 20 23 – 67
Sisters Scoring: John Erickson 24, Harrison 12, Miller 8, Boehm 6, Hodges 5, Mickel, Goss, Fitzke, Gridley, Bozwell, Rerennen. Totals: 23 4-5 55
Sweet Home: Gavin Kauffman 27, Felkins 14, Mauch 13, White 6, Dallas Morgan 5, Jason Rice 2, Kim, Justin Rice, Robert Rubidoux, Chris Webb, Nick Lloyd, Brice Vandenberg, Winslow. Totals: 26 13-18 67
Sweet Home 69, Philomath 61
The Huskies built a big lead against Philomath at home on Jan. 11 and then held off a 36-point Philomath fourth quarter to win 69-61.
“The first half was low scoring,” Knurowski said. “Both teams played great defense in the first half.”
The Huskies led 12-6 after the first quarter and 20-14 at halftime. The Huskies jumped ahead 42-25 by the end of the third quarter.
“It was three quarters of one our best defensive efforts this year,” Knurowski said, then in the fourth quarter, it’s like the team forgot everything.
Philomath’s Derek Nash put up 22 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to lead the 36-point Philomath rally, probably the biggest quarter Knurowski has played against.
“Part of it was them,” he said. “They shot the ball really well, and the wheels kind of fell off for us.”
Kauffman had one of his best games ever, scoring 32 points, Knurowski said. “They started box and one against him. It didn’t make a whole lot of difference. He shot the ball extremely well. The guys did a good job recognizing how hot he was and getting the ball to him.”
The huskies kept feeding him, and Kauffman kept putting them up, including six threes.
The defensive lapse may have held over to the Sisters game later in the week, Knurowski said, but the Huskies picked it up in time to get a win against a good team like Sisters.
It shows that the Huskies can compete with some of the best teams in the state, he said. He thinks the team could be more successful against some of the teams who defeated the Huskies earlier in the year if they were given the chance for a rematch.
Philomath 6 8 11 36 – 61
Sweet Home 12 8 22 27 – 69
Philomath Scoring: Derek Nash 30, Hanson 14, DeSaulnier 6, Banuelos 4, Bartlow 2, Magana 2, Markley 2, Gilmore 1, Alvarado, Davis, Erickson, Marchino.
Sweet Home Scoring: Kauffman 32, Morgan 9, Felkins 9, White 7, Mauch 5, Winslow 4, Kim 3, Rice, Rubidoux, Webb, Lloyd, Vandenberg.