Sweet Home 64
Molalla 54
After losing most of its league schedule, the Husky boys basketball team gelled last week to defeat Molalla, 64-54, and Sisters, 40-37, to start the second half of league play.
Molalla led the Huskies 14-9 after the first quarter and 27-22 at halftime.
“I think they went up 10 in the beginning of the second quarter,” Coach Mark Risen said. “It began to look like we were going to dig ourselves an insurmountable hole at first. Our shot selection was poor.”
“We finally got a lineup on the floor that was committed to playing defense,” Coach Risen said. The team climbed back within five by the end of the second quarter. Tim Matuszak and Ravi Patel gave the team big hoops, four points and five points respectively, that quarter to close the gap.
Right after the half, the Huskies jumped out to a 32-31 lead.
“It just felt like we were in control of the game from there,” Coach Risen said. The Huskies executed well on both ends of the floor, and the players understood and played confidently in their individual roles.
“Matuszak had a huge night,” Coach Risen said. Matuszak ended the night with 28 points. He held Molalla’s leading scorer, Danny Kirkham, to seven points.
“Kirkham’s probably one of the best five players in the conference,” Coach Risen said. “For Tim to go out and do that kind of job on him plus deliver 28 points is quite a night.”
Mike Severns gave the Huskies huge minutes on defense while Patel did the same for the offense. The Huskies dominated the boards with Brian Seward, Ricky Howe and Seth Graves, who all had big nights in the rebound column.
The team is playing completely unselfishly on offense, Coach Risen said. The team is taking its time waiting for the looks they want at the bucket and only then taking them, “which is what we’ve been striving for all along.”
The Huskies built a 42-37 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Matuszak led Husky scoring with 28 points. Howe and Patel added eight points each; Mink, seven; Tyler Emmert, four; Severns, three; and Matt Slauson, two.
Marcus Banks led Molalla scoring with 23 points. Daniel Gonzales added 14.
Sweet Home 40
Sisters 37
The show that started Tuesday hosting Molalla last week continued Friday night when the Huskies defeated Sisters 40-37, at home.
The Huskies didn’t execute as well offensively Sisters as they did Molalla, and Sisters scratched out a 10-8 lead by the end of the first quarter. The dogfight continued to halftime when the Huskies were able to claim a 19-17 lead. Sisters led 30-28 going into the final quarter.
The Husky offense wasn’t as sharp as Tuesday, but “defensively, we looked even better,” Coach Risen said. Matuszak had another great night, holding Sisters’ leading scorer, Sweeney to three, while scoring 10 points himself. The Huskies were hot on the boards again.
“This game was a defensive war between the two teams,” Coach Risen said. Both showed “spectacular defense” down the stretch. Both sides shifted and changed defenses throughout the game. The Huskies did a good job of recognizing the changes and executing offense to defeat them.
In the last two minutes, four plays secured the win while Sisters nipped at the Huskies’ heels. The first was a key assist from Matuszak to Mink, who caught and scored in the air under the hoop.
Matuszak notched another key assist to Emmert for a bucket with 1:35 left. Howe drove in a hoop with 38 seconds to tick the lead up to three. Sisters scored again and put Matuszak on the line with three seconds left. Matuszak scored both foul shots to give the Huskies their win margin.
Again, Severns gave “utterly amazing” defensive minutes, and Patel provided great offense, Coach Risen said. Under the board, Slauson, Graves and Matt Morneault snapped up rebounds.
“Everybody’s been stepping up and doing their job, and they’re doing it in the framework of our team,” Coach Risen said. The Huskies’ system is complicated and intricate, Coach Risen said. The players must know their role and develop the required skills within that role.
They’re taking ownership of their roles now, Coach Risen said. They’re fulfilling those roles and, just as important, staying within the role.
Coach Risen is happy with his team.
“We weathered the course,” Coach Risen said. “They’re really beginning to gel going down the stretch.”
The Huskies hold a 2-5 league record and a 6-13 overall record.
They are fifth in league. Stayton leads the league with a 7-0 record. Cascade, Sisters and Molalla are all tied at 4-3 and followed by Sweet Home. North Marion is sixth in the league with a 1-6 record. The top four teams make conference playoffs.
With two more wins, Coach Risen believes the Huskies could be in a tiebreaker situation for playoffs.
“The log jam above us is definitely helping to prop open that door for us at this point,” Coach Risen said.