Sweet Home’s girls played some good quarters last week, but they couldn’t connect enough of them to over come their opponents in three varsity basketball losses, 47-38 at Siuslaw, 44-20 at Junction City and 43-37 at home against Illinois Valley.
Saturday afternoon, Illinois Valley quickly built a dominating lead against the Huskies, 11-4 after a quarter and 25-8 at halftime.
The Huskies held their own in the third, trailing 35-19, before putting together a big run in the fourth, led by Ally Tow, who scored 16 of her 21 in the final quarter; but they ran out of time before catching up.
The Huskies outscored Illinois Valley 29-18 in the second half, said Coach Steve Brown. “We just can’t get past the unforced turnover thing.”
The Huskies had 18 total turnovers in the first half, Brown said. Most of them were unforced.
“We’re breaking the press, and then we’d throw it away,” he said. They cut those down in the second half, and shooting percentages went up in the second half as Tow dropped seven field goals and a three on the second half, most of it in the fourth quarter.
“We definitely did a lot better on defense,” Brown said. “I think we might have been more patient in the second half. I was proud of them the way they came back.”
Illinois Valley 11 14 10 8 – 43
Sweet Home 4 4 9 20 – 37
Illinois Valley scoring: Allison Primeau 19, Johnson 9, Neville 7, Scott 4, Baez 2, Brooks 2, Rapley, Miller.
Sweet Home scoring: Ally Tow 21, Hailey Silver 5, Kaitlynn Autry 4, Kayla Miller 4, Ashley Wickline 2, Chiara DiMola.
Against Siuslaw on Feb. 2, the Huskies were within three points in the final quarter, Brown said.
Sweet Home led 12-8 after the first quarter and then trailed 23-19 at halftime. Siuslaw extended its lead in the third quarter to 36-30.
The Huskies got within three before Tow fouled out. She had already sat out most of the second and third quarters with foul trouble after collecting three. Kaitlynn Autry also fouled out.
Sweet Home 12 7 11 8 – 38
Siuslaw 8 15 13 11 – 47
Sweet Home scoring: Silver 14, Tow 13, Gingerich 4, Miller 2, Wickline 3, Autry 2, Brownell, DiMola.
Siuslaw scoring: Destinie Tatum 18, Potter 16, Waggoner 6, Dotson 4, Tupua 3, Watkins, White, Launius, Reynolds.
Against Junction City on Feb. 4, the Huskies trailed 12-7 after one quarter, and then held on to halftime when they trailed 20-15. In both quarters, a Junction City player slipped in a shot on the buzzer to end the quarter.
The Huskies hit a slump in the third, scoring just a single free throw, while Junction City built a 35-16 lead.
“We had moments,” Brown said of the week. “There was a 20-point quarter. It can be there, but we can’t put them back to back.”
Sweet Home 7 8 1 4 – 20
Junction City 12 8 15 9 – 44
Sweet Home scoring: Tow 13, Silver 2, Autry 2, DiMola 2, Miller 1, Bethany Gingerich, Wickline, Brittany Brownell.
Junction City scoring: Sierra Graton 8, N. Thompson 6, Ohman 6, Mehlbrech 6, K. Thompson 5, Norris 4, Evans 2, Eba 2, Ward, Potter, Jobe.