Editor:
I’m writing this letter to state what I saw in some of the Sweet Home Huskies’ boys basketball home games.
Toward the end of the season, I saw a good game between us and the Sisters Outlaws, who went on to a 7-3 Capital Conference record. The game was tied 56-56 with about 15 seconds to go in the game, and a Sisters player tipped in a missed three-point shot by another Sisters player with no time on the clock as the shot went in. They won 58-56.
We played well in that game, and it was a shame that one team had to lose and one team had to win that game. I felt the same way when I was watching the Feb. 18 game at home against the North Marion Huskies, who, after that game, finished 8-2 in league, co-champions with the Stayton Eagles, and 13-10 overall.
We were down 58-56 with 2.28 seconds on the clock. We inbounded the ball to a player who was about three-quarters of the way from our basket, and the clock operator did not start the clock until our player crossed mid-court.
The clocked ticked down to 2.26 seconds, and then the referees stopped the game and talked among each other in a huddle. After a minute or two of conversation, they called the game over. I figured that it took about two seconds to advance the ball past mid-court when the referees stopped the game.
There should have been a few tenths of a second left on the clock, which may have been enough time to put a desperation three-pointer, which may have won us the game. I think that the referees called the game prematurely.
Even though we lost our Capital Conference playoff game 60-47 to Cascade in Turner and finished our season 2-8 in league and 8-17 overall, I think we had a better team than our record indicates.
Matthew James Bottoroff
Sweet Home