Sweet Home’s boys beat Elmira 59-51 at home Friday after falling 54-38 at Sisters on Jan. 16 in high school boys varsity basketball.
“Big win,” said Assistant Coach Ryan Graville. “We shot the ball better from the free throw line.”
That was the biggest difference between the games against Elmira, shooting 17-23, and Sisters, shooting 6-16. The Huskies shot just 5-16 against Sutherlin in the league opener a week earlier.
Sweet Home looked better in both games last week, Graville said. “We worked the ball, got good looks and made more shots.”
The Huskies were more energetic defensively too, he said.
“In the game against Sisters, we played really well the first half. “Being up at halftime shows that we an compete with anybody in the league.”
Sisters, 3-0, beat currently ninth-ranked Cottage Grove and is leading the Sky-Em.
Elmira, 0-3, can be dangerous. With just three wins so far this season, the Falcons beat then-ninth-ranked Philomath. It also beat Douglas. Both of those teams beat the Huskies earlier in the season.
Around the state, about five teams are in the top tier, Graville said. Among the rest, on any given night, anybody can beat anybody else. Neither the state nor the league has a lot of separation competitively.
That gives Graville the confidence that the Huskies can manage a team like Cottage Grove, and the win against Elmira gives Sweet Home momentum.
“We’ve just got to put together a full game,” Graville said. “Overall, last week was much improved.”
In practice, he could see lights clicking on for some of the players, he said.
Sweet Home, 1-2, was scheduled to host Cottage Grove, 2-1, Tuesday; travel to Junction City, 1-2, Friday; and travel to Sutherlin, 2-1, Feb. 2.
Sweet Home 59, Elmira 51
The two teams opened the game in a dead heat, swapping a one-point lead back and forth with the Falcons ahead 15-14 after the first quarter.
Sweet Home took charge in the second quarter to lead 26-21 at halftime. The Huskies built their largest lead, 40-29, during the third quarter and led 42-34 going into the final quarter.
Elmira closed the gap to two buckets last in the game, trailing 55-51 near the end.
“We pressed them to try to get them to burn a little more clock,” Graville said.
Andrew Freitag led the way at the hoop, scoring 14 points. He pulled down six rebounds.
Jake Swanson and Keegan Holly each added another 13 points, with Swanson leading on the boards with nine rebounds. Nate Virtue scored eight, and Colton Smith scored seven with six rebounds.
Logan Bender led scoring for the Falcons with 13 points.
Sweet Home shot 40 percent from the field, while Elmira shot 39 percent. The Huskies had 10 turnovers, and Elmira had 18. Sweet Home had 30 rebounds, and Elmira had 31.
Elmira 15 6 13 17 – 51
Sweet Home 14 12 16 17 – 59
Elmira scoring: Logan Bender 13, Davis 11, Smith 10, Ossowski 6, Duquette 6, Delamater 3, Herbert 2, Olson, Chambers, Palmer, Smart. Totals: 16 15-20 51.
Sweet Home scoring: Andrew Freitag 14, Jake Swanson 13, Keegan Holly 13, Nate Virtue 8, Colton Smith 7, Casey Tow 2, Hayden Nichol 2, Zach Zanona. Totals: 20 17-23 59.
Three-point goals: Elmira: Davis 3, Duquette. Sweet Home: Holly, Freitag.
Sisters 54, Sweet Home 38
Sisters held a small advantage through the first quarter but led by just 14-13 going into the seond quarter.
The Huskies held the Outlaws to just four points in the second quarter to take a 23-18 lead at halftime.
Sisters took control after halftime, outscoring Sweet Home 22-7 and leading 40-30 going into the fourth quarter.
The Huskies got within six points early in the quarter before the Outlaws extended their lead.
Virtue led Sweet Home with 14 points. Noah Richards led the outlaws with 18 points.
The Huskies shot 36.8 percent from the field while Sisters made half of its shots. Sisters shot 57.7 percent from the foul line, while the Huskies shot 37.5 percent.
The Outlaws beat the Huskies on the boards, pulling down 32 rebounds. The Huskies had 21 rebounds.
Each team had 13 turnovers.
Sweet Home 13 10 7 8 – 38
Sisters 14 4 22 14 – 54
Sweet Home scoring: Virtue 14, Holly 9, Tow 5, Smith 2, Nichol 4, Lance Hanson 2, Swanson 2, Zanona, Zach Luttmer, Jasper Korn. 14 6-16 38.
Sisters scoring: Noah Richards 18, Anderson 10, Berg 9, Waddell 7, Lake 8, Rush 2, Scholl, Cecelliani. Totals: 19 15-26 54.
Three-point goals: Sweet Home: Virtue 2, Tow, Smith. Sisters: Richards.