The Huskies summer boys basketball team finished 5-3 in a 32-team camp held at Oregon State University Thursday through Saturday.
The camp included 19 varsity teams teams from California, Oregon and Nevada.
They opened Thursday against St. Mary’s, a 3A school in southern Oregon, with a 66-58 win.
The Huskies shot 14 three-pointers, Coach Tim Little said. Credit for those went to Brandon Weist, Colton Emmert, Gabe Kauffman and Ricky Worley.
“They were letting us shoot, and we were making them so we didn’t stop,” Little said. St. Mary’s is a strong program, kind of like the Marist of the Medford area.
The Huskies next defeated Waldport 52-29.
On Friday, they opened with North Valley, another strong 3A school, Little said. The Huskies defeated North Valley 53-49 in overtime and then played back-to-back to handily defeat 2A Powers 69-37.
The Huskies ran into 4A South Eugene next and lost 58-44.
“We spotted them 14 points,” Little said. Early in the game, the score was 16-2. After that the Huskies played South Eugene evenly, ending with the same 14-point margin.
“We played well with the exception of the first five minutes,” Little said. South Eugene is a big school with big guys. “I think we were a little intimidated,” before swinging into action and competing with South Eugene.
Junction City, 3A, beat them next in a low-scoring game 37-33.
“We were very tired,” Little said. “I only took eight kids. It just showed.”
The Huskies were having difficulty getting up and down the floor, Little said. Junction City had a deeper bench, with 11 or 12 players.
These games were used to determine seeding for a Saturday tournament.
The Huskies faced Santiam Christian in the first round and lost 56-54. In the consolation bracket, they had a rematch against St. Mary’s, winning 64-51.
At 5-3, Little said, the Huskies trailed by only six points against two schools their size, and after spotting South Eugene a decisive advantage, they played competitively.
“We started 4-0,” Little said. “We felt positive about that. We really feel with Junction City and Santiam Christian, we just beat ourselves.”
The team showed lack of experience toward the end of the camp, Little said, but the experience in close games will help this team improve.
The Huskies are 14-6 on the summer.
On Saturday, they travel to North Marion for a four-team tournament, including North Marion and probably Taft, one of the Huskies’ new conference rivals. Little was not sure who the fourth team is.