Sweet Home girls basketball lost two games to conference opponents last week, losing at North Marion 54-38 and at home against Stayton 51-21. The losses extended Sweet Home’s losing streak to eight games.
Sweet Home (4-14) was up against North Marion (5-14) 12-11 after one quarter of play, but the other Huskies took a 27-21 lead into halftime before extending their lead in the second half.
Sweet Home shot 25% from the field while North Marion shot at a 31.7% rate. Sweet Home turned the ball over 31 times while forcing 18.
“It was a winnable game for us,” said Sweet Home Head Coach Michelle Knight.
“We had some calls that were questionable at some crucial times that I think affected the outcome. We also had too many turnovers and things on our end that we didn’t take care of properly. But I’m excited to play them at home.”
She said that “The girls are working hard and improving, and they’re working on all the things that we touch on in practice. We just keep fighting, and we’re just going to keep doing that.”
Senior Brooke Burke led Sweet Home in scoring with 24 points on 8-35 shooting. Freshman Aubrey Newberry scored six points on 2-3 shooting, while senior Meeja Bitter pitched in for four points on 1-4 shooting.
Against Stayton (10-8), Sweet Home was down 23-9 at halftime. “I felt like that was some of the best basketball we’ve played, at least in the first half,” Knight said. “Our turnovers were much lower. We just couldn’t get any of our shots to fall. Shots that normally fall for us weren’t.”
The Eagles really took control in the third quarter, winning that frame 22-4.
Sweet Home shot just 18.9% from the field in the game, while Stayton shot at 40.7%. The Huskies turned the ball over 21 times while forcing 15.
Burke again led Sweet Home in scoring with 13 points on 4-26 shooting. Newberry had three points on 1-1 shooting, and freshman Addy Vannice also had three points, on 1-5 shooting.
This week the Huskies travel to Newport (10-8) for a 7 p.m. game on Thursday, Feb. 9.
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