Following a 63-53 win at Newport Friday, the Huskies locked in their place in the Val-Co League boys playoffs and were gearing up Monday for a two-game series with Central.
Tuesday night’s home game against the Panthers is the determining factor in which of the two teams finishes second and third in the Val-Co and whether the Huskies host Thursday night’s league playoff game or travel to Central for the game.
The Huskies handily defeated Newport after building an 18-8 lead in the first quarter. The Huskies finished the half with a 33-25 lead.
Colton Emmert turned in a sharpshooter’s performance, leading the Huskies with 17 points in the first half alone. He scored 26 overall, shooting 7-7 from the foul line, 1-1 from the three-point line and 8-10 from the field.
The Huskies led 45-39 at the end of the third quarter.
“It didn’t seem that close,” Coach Tim Little said. “We subbed the second string in the last couple of minutes. We never gave up the lead.”
The first time the Huskies faced Newport, they had trouble with a zone defense and lost by two points. The Huskies defeated that defense the last time they saw Newport, and Newport came out with a different plan Friday, “platooning” give guys every few minutes and running a man-to-man defense with half-court trapping.
“We didn’t have too much trouble,” Little said. The Huskies turned the ball over 10 times on the game.
“It was a big game,” Little said. “It solidified at least a league playoff. It was good to get that pressure off of us.”
Looking forward to Central, “if we win, Thursday will be at home also,” Little said.
Central has defeated the Huskies twice this year, 62-53 and 44-40.
“They have a 6-8 post kid,” Little said. “He’s a big strong kid (all-league in football), their bread and butter. They try to get the ball in to him.
“They’re real physical, and we had a little difficulty.”
But the last time the Huskies faced Central, “we still feel like we beat ourselves,” Little said. “We’re confident.
We know we can beat them. We’ve just got to come out focused and concentrate, playing to our potential the whole game.”
The Huskies are coming off a bout with illness and peaking right now, Little said. “The pressure is on us. We’ve to win to continue to play.”
The Huskies’ intensity is often tied to the pressure, he said. “They know it’s a must-win situation. It’s nice to know when it’s on the line, they’ll come out and compete.”
The league is tight in terms of performance, Little said. One point with Taft and two points at Newport are all the difference there is between the Huskies being tied for second or being tied for first in league.
“It’s certainly a small margin this year,” Little said.
Emmert led scoring for the Huskies. Gabe Kauffman added 12 with eight rebounds; Ryan Graville, nine points; Brandon Weist, eight; Ricky Worley, five; Jon Ball, two; and Nathan Whitfield, one. Ray Lingenfelter, Xiang Li, Dustin Hay and Josh Riggs played but did not score.