Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The Husky boys basketball team topped two of three opponents opening week.
They defeated Central 36-22 at home on Nov. 29. The Huskies lost 59-44 to Oakland on Dec. 2 at a tournament and defeated Douglas 69-30 on Dec. 3 in the same tournament.
Central was missing to starters to football, Sweet Home Coach Tim Little said. That had an impact in the game, but “holding that team to 22 points was a solid defensive effort for us. Overall, to open up that way defensively, I thought we did a good job.”
Offensively, “we’re just struggling as a team,” Little said, but the Huskies have the ability to score, proving it against Douglas.
So far, the Huskies are averaging only 24 percent from the field, Little said. The Huskies opening night ended with a 3-10 effort from the free-throw line.
“Free throw shooting has improved.” Little said. “Friday night we had 81 percent.”
The Huskies started out slow against Central, Little said. At the end of the first quarter, the Huskies led 5-3. They led only 12-11 at halftime. They built a 26-16 lead in the third quarter and held onto the solid lead to the end of the game.
‘We had some younger kids coming in and just got the team relaxed a little bit,” Little said. “I think we came out tight, but we did a much better job the second half” of contesting their shooters and blocking out.
“Defensively, I’m very happy for being the first game of the year,” Little said. “It gave us a good starting point for what to work on. Now it’s up to the kids to work on these things if they want to be more successful.”
Tim Faulconer led Husky scoring with 11 points. Brandon Smith added eight; Anthony Hoffman, seven; Cody Shipp, four; Charlie Fitzsimons, two; Brandon Weist, two; and Ryan Elliott, two.
Boldt led Central scoring with six. Girard added five; Hamilton, four; Crockett, four; Wallace, four; and Pratt, two.
The Huskies turned the ball over 11 times. Elliott pulled down nine boards and stole the ball five times. Hoffman had five rebounds.
Okland, a 2A team, returned four starters, including the best shooter in the state last year, Little said. That team has been in the state tournament for the last six years straight, a solid basketball program.
“Their defense exposed some of our weaknesses,” Little said. The Huskies turned the ball over 25 times. Defensively, the Huskies had trouble blocking out and gave up too many offensive boards.
With that, the Huskies were still within three points with just a couple of minutes left, Little said. The Huskies surrendered the offensive board that expanded their deficit. Oakland shot the ball, missed and got the rebound and hit the second shot, drawing a foul and an extra point to go up by six.
Oakland led 16-10 after one quarter and 26-19 at halftime. The Huskies closed the gap to 35-31 by the end of the third quarter.
Ryan Elliott led scoring with 16 points. Cody Shipp scored 12; Tim Faulconer, six; Brandon Smith, four; Gabe Kauffman, three; and Brandon Weist, three.
Donny Derry led Oakland with 18 points; Andrew Brenner, 16; and Chad Beer, 11.
“Defensively, we did a great job again on Saturday,” Little said. The Huskies gave up only eight offensive rebounds nearly reaching their goal of allowing only seven offensive rebounds per game. They held Douglas to 12 field goals for the whole game.
“Everybody contributed,” Little said. “Everybody got a state line.”
The Huskies trailed Douglas 12-11 after the first quarter. They built a 25-18 lead at halftime and then dominated Douglas for the second half, leading 47-24 at the end of the third quarter.
Kauffman and Weist led scoring with 10 points. Elliott added eight; Colton Emmert, six; Andy Worley, five; Fitzsimons and Hoffman, four; and Smith, two.
Josh Quimby led Douglas scoring with 10 points. Shay Simpson added five; Kevin Godfrey, four; and Brody Matthews, four.
Elliott stole the ball six times, with five assists and five rebounds. Shipp had three assists, five steals and three rebounds. Adam Matuszak had four steals, three rebounds and two assists. Hoffman had four rebounds and two steals.
The team shot 68 percent from the foul line and 46 percent from the field.
Elliott led the team in statistics against Central and Douglas.
“This last week of games, he has emerged as a very positive leader,” Little said. He is setting an example the way a leader should. Elliott won’t always lead the team in statistics. He knows his role, and that’s to do it all. “No matter what it is, if he’s competing at it, he rises to the ocassion.”
“The younger kids are coming along,” Little said. That’s what pre-season is all about, and he hopes that by league they’ll be ready to step up and contribute every night.
“Teamwise, overall, none of us have been shooting well,” Little said. “And when the shots are falling, it seems to help every part of your game (like the Douglas game).
“It’s disappointing to lose Friday night. That was the first real test for us, but I’m pleased in the fact it gives us an idea what we need to work on, what we need to fix.”