Sweet Home 60, Newport 57
Narrowly holding off last-place Newport Friday night at home and barely missing an opportunity against Taft earlier in the week, the Husky boys showed just how tight things are in league play even while lurking near the bottom of the league basketball rankings.
Led by Gavin Kauffman’s 21-point effort, the Huskies held off Newport 60-57 after losing an early 18-point lead.
The Huskies opened strong with a 24-6 advantage after one quarter. In the second quarter, the Huskies hit foul trouble, and the Cubs found their shot, closing the gap to 33-25 by halftime.
In the third quarter, the Cubs pushed it three points closer, finishing the quarter trailing 40-35.
Kauffman and Brent Moyer both picked up their fourth fouls with three minutes left in the third quarter, leaving a precarious Husky lead, Coach Kostanty Knurowski said. Players had to play longer stretches because of the foul trouble.
“I thought a lot of kids did a nice job with that,” he said, especially Brock Cota, who is playing “better and better.”
He is improving rapidly despite a year off from basketball, Knurowski said.
But Newport was able to whittle down the Husky lead and go ahead, 46-45, with 3:29 left on the clock. From there, it was back and forth.
Trailing by a bucket with 1:18 left on the clock, Drew Emmert put up a short jumper and drew a foul to give the Huskies a 52-51 lead. Newport’s Tristan Metcalf copied Emmert’s shot and foul to take back the lead 10 seconds later, followed by a three from Ryan Graville with a minute left for a 55-54 Husky lead.
The Cubs and Huskies exchanged buckets, with Sweet Home in a 57-56 lead. With 10 seconds left, Metcalf went to the line shooting two. He hit the back end to tie the game 57-57.
With 3.75 seconds showing on the clock, Emmert dished the ball off to Kauffman, who scored through a Newport foul. He hit the free throw to seal the win. Metcalf missed a close half-court prayer to end the game.
“It was a really exciting basketball game to be a part of,” Knurowski said. Newport did a great job coming back and challenging the Huskies for the win, but the Huskies did a much better job hitting free throws and executing than the did three nights earlier against Taft.
“It could’ve been easy finding a way to lose,” he said, but the Huskies kept finding ways to score.
In addition to Kauffman, Emmert scored 12 points on the game; Graville, eight; Jerome Coleman, five; Levi Marchbanks, four; Josh Riggs, four; and Moyer two. Cota played but did not score.
Metcalf led Newport scoring with 21. Palmer added 10; Layton, eight; Adamson, seven; Milnovre, six; and Hoef, five. Brenner and Morrow played but did not score.
Taft 68, Sweet Home 66
On Tuesday at home, the Huskies lost a similar game 68-66 in overtime against Taft after giving up several untimely turnovers and watching their shooting fizzle at the free-throw line.
“We led most of the game, and really we missed some opportunities late in the game to seal the win,” Knurowski said, referring to missed free throws and turnovers.
The game was tied 14-14 after one quarter. At halftime, the Huskies held a 32-31 advantage. Taft built a 45-40 lead to end the third quarter. The Huskies mounted a massive assault during the fourth, but Taft matched it to take the game into overtime.
Tied with four seconds left, the Huskies went to Emmert for a three, but the shot didn’t go in, Knurowski said. Heading into overtime, the teams exchanged buckets with the Huskies holding the advantage. Off a missed shot or turnover, Taft took the advantage, ending the game at the foul line, hitting the first and missing the second, burning the last three seconds on the rebound.
The Huskies only shot around 60 percent from the foul line, Knurowski said. They typically shoot 70 percent or better.
“In addition, we had some turnovers that just continued to allow Taft to stay in the game,” he said. On top of it, Taft played well and took advantage of it by shooting well.
The Huskies had nine three-point shots on the game while Taft answered nearly as well with seven of their own. Kauffman hit four and Graville three. Moyer and Emmert each added a three.
Graville led scoring with 22 points. Kauffman added 18; Emmert, nine; Moyer, seven; Coleman, three; Marchbanks, three; Cota, three; and Riggs, one.
Jordon McNelly led Taft with 20; Hindman, 12; C. Buring, 12; Willoughby, nine; and D. Buring, one.
The Huskies, 2-6 in league, have beaten Newport twice, giving the Huskies the tiebreaker if needed against Newport, and are in fourth place, ahead of the Cubs. Newport has one win, against Taft, leaving the Huskies a good chance to make the league playoffs.
“It’s going to be difficult to move into that third spot,” Knurowski said. “We’ve had extremely close games with everybody.”
The Huskies have had no double-digit losses to anyone in the league, he said. Taft beat Philomath by two, but Philomath only beat Sweet Home by two. Taft beat Sweet Home by two twice, once in overtime.
“They’re finding ways to win close games,” Knurowski said.
But it’s only a matter of time before the Huskies’ mounting experience helps them find ways to win the close ones. None of the league teams are head and shoulders above the Huskies, and he wouldn’t be surprised to see his team walk into another gym and knock out one of the leading teams to earn a state playoff berth.
“Hopefully, we can play spoiler a little bit,” he said.
The Huskies play Friday at Central. Their final home game is Tuesday against Philomath. They’ll play at Taft on Feb. 13 and finish league play on Feb. 20 at Newport.
Val-Co Standings
Central 8-0
Taft 5-2
Philomath 3-5
Sweet Home 2-6
Newport 1-6