The Husky girls basketball team lost a close one Friday night at Central as the Huskies convincingly dug their way out of a first-quarter eight-point deficit to challenge Central.
The Huskies lost 46-42.
“They had a lot of shots early,” Coach Jason Gorham said. “We were defending all right.”
But Central didn’t miss many shots early, and the Huskies made a couple of mistakes that allowed Central to take a 21-13 lead.
Tabby Trahan was shooting well that quarter and scored 11 of the Huskies’ points, keeping them in the game, Gorham said.
In the second quarter, “we focused in more on our defense and did a better job closing out,” Gorham said. “Really, they didn’t get the open looks at all.”
The Huskies closed the Central lead to 23-20 by halftime.
“We really played well with them in the second half,” leading 39-38 at one point in the fourth quarter, Gorham said. In the fourth quarter, the Huskies got into a fouling situation, giving up 11-16 from the foul line to Central and helping give the lead back to the Panthers.
“Once we put together four quarters, we can beat anybody in our league,” Gorham said, and that’s where his team is focused on future games with teams like Central and Philomath, to which it lost by two points earlier in the season.
“Central won that game,” Gorham said. “They did what they needed to do at the end to win.”
The Huskies will correct their mistakes and try to come out on top the next time they meet the Panthers, he said. “The girls are learning in a competitive environment and learning how important each possession is.
“They’re not satisfied with just competing. They want to win.”
Trahan led Husky scoring with 18 points. Sara Brocard scored six; Jenny Hamn, six; Erika Snow; three; Ashley Danielson, three; Paige Niemi, two; and Makenzie Marchbanks, two.
Ramirez led Central scoring with 13. Jaci Hermans added 11.
On Jan. 16, Newport defeated the Huskies 51-35.
Gorham said the first half of the game, with Newport leading 30-10, was probably the Huskies’ worst half all season. The Huskies came back out in the second half much stronger and closed the scoring gap. The Huskies trailed 35-23 at the end of the third.
Brocard led Husky scoring with 12 points.
Danielson had a “breakout game,” Gorham said. “She really shot the ball well and played well on both ends for us.”
Danielson scored 11; Marchbanks, two; Hamn, two; Nicole Fagan, two; Snow, one; and Jessalyn Seiber, one.
Rylee Peterson led Newport with 12 points.
Next, the Huskies travel to Taft on Friday and then travel to Newport on Jan. 31 and host Central on Feb. 2.