By Keeghan Gittins
For The New Era
The Sweet Home girls basketball team lost, 60–33 to No. 6 Cascade on Tuesday night but showed continued improvement against one of the top teams in the state.
Sweet Home came out strong, opening the game with a 7–0 run and forcing Cascade to keep its starters on the floor. Although the visitors eventually found their rhythm, and their efficient offensive attack kicked in, the final result still marked success for Sweet Home.
The Cougars are the real deal – they have beaten two 6A teams this season, as well as multiple 5A schools, and were sitting on top of the Oregon West Conference standings at 4-0 coming into this week after beating now-No. 1 Stayton in the first round of OWC play.
“We were focused on continuing to fight and making Cascade continue to fight back,” head coach Erika Evans said.
“Our goal was to get over 30 points and keep them at 60 or under, and we were able to do that.”
Aaliyah Brown led the Huskies with 10 points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field. Taylor Gaskey added eight points, and Mailey Brewer went 3-for-4 from the field.
Sweet Home was able to put up a ton of shots, attempting 41 throughout the course of the game.
“We matched Cascade in most statistical categories, with turnovers being the main difference,” Evans said.
She also noted the team’s defensive progress against strong opponents.”
Sweet Home had 27 turnovers while only forcing 10 from Cascade. The Huskies actually out-rebounded the Cougars 28-26, despite Cascade having a substantial height advantage. The Huskies only had one less assist than the Cougars.
“Just because the scoreboard doesn’t show a win doesn’t mean we aren’t learning to compete better,” Evans said.
The loss marked Sweet Home’s closest game against Cascade in years as the Huskies continue to focus on growth and consistency moving forward.
Sweet Home starts the second half of league play this week, hosting No. 9 Philomath Tuesday, Feb. 10. They will travel to Stayton, which beat Lebanon last week, three days later.
