The Huskies named their teammates Keegan Holly and Jake Swanson co-Most Valuable Players during the boys basketball team’s annual awards dessert March 27.
Either player might lead the team’s scoring, said Coach Drew Emmert. Even when they had low-scoring games, both had a large impact in other areas.
Swanson, a junior, scored two points in one game this season, Emmert said, but he accrued a score of 18 on the team’s plus-minus scale. That statistic reflects points scored while a player is on the floor. It was the highest of the season.
“He was often our leading scorer and often our leading rebounder,” Emmert said. Swanson averaged 8.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
“Keegan had games where he absolutely carried us,” Emmert said. Holly, a senior, always defended against the point guard and recorded 1.9 steals per game. He averaged 10.2 points per game.
Casey Tow won the team’s Free Throw Award for shooting 86 percent. He shot 25-for-29 from the foul line. The next best free throw shooter was Holley, who shot 68-105.
Assistant Coach Ryan Graville noted that Tow’s was the highest percentage from the line in three seasons.
Nick Marler won the team’s Sportsmanship Award
Marler has faced a lot of adversity and injuries this year, said Assistant Coach Brandon Gaskey. Marler was “a lot of fun to have” during his freshman year when Gaskey was interim coach.
Marler had a torn ACL and other medical issues, Emmert said. The senior always kept a great attitude.
Hayden Nichol, a junior, won the team’s Hustle Award.
“It’s never a question what kind of effort you’re going to get from him,” said Assistant Coach Ryan Adams. He always has a smile on his face – even when someone is “yelling” at him.
Junior Nate Virtue won the team’s Defensive Player of the Year award.
“Nate always guarded the best player unless he was a center,” Emmert said. He would remain on the floor all game except when his man was subbed out.
He pulled down 5.6 rebounds per game and had 1.7 steals per game.
Sophomore Jasper Korn was named the Junior Varsity Player of the Year by his team.
Seniors Holly and Marler won their third letters.
Second-year letters went to sophomores Tow and Zach Zanona and juniors Lance Hanson, Swanson, Virtue and Colton Smith.
First-year lettermen were sophomores Korn and Zach Luttmer.
The Huskies finished the season 3-7 in league and 8-15 overall and were tied with Junction City for fourth in the Sky-Em League.
All season long, they lost close games, staying in it with the top two teams in the league, Sisters and Sutherlin, till the end of those games.
“It would have been good to win a couple of those close ones we lost,” Emmert said, adding that his team would still be playing ball. The Huskies beat two teams that made it to the play-in round and were within one possession of beating Sisters.
It bodes well for next year, especially with strong performances by the JV, which finished 18-5, and JV2 teams, which was 18-2. JV2 lost no games during league.
The Huskies lose two seniors, Marler and Holly, Emmert said.
“We return almost everybody who contributed a lot. I think it’s really promising. The next few years could be really good.”
The Huskies competed well this year, better than they did against the same teams last year, Emmert said. “It’s exciting to see. Our program in general, there’s so much more basketball being played year-round.”
The basketball culture is growing, said Emmert, who is just completing his third year as head coach. His next goal is to start trickling the program down into the grade schools.