Ken Roberts
For The New Era
Sweet Home played even with league-leading Central through most of the first half, but the Panthers gradually pulled away to defeat the Huskies last Thursday, 45€”25 on the Huskies’ home court.
Jenny Hamn kept Sweet Home close early with nine points in the first half. Emili Riggs tied the score at 5:41 in the second quarter, but Central scored the final five points in the half to take a 23-15 advantage.
Neither team did much in the third quarter. But in the fourth quarter, Central exploded, converting layins off of fast breaks, press breaks, and cuts in their offense to outscore Sweet Home 16 to 5 in the final period.
As in previous games with the Panthers, Central shot a better percentage from both the field and the foul line, using balanced scoring.
“We’re getting time to shoot,” said coach John Barnes, noting the difficulty the Huskies are having in finding consistent scoring. “To find some more scorers is just really important.”
For Sweet Home, Hamn once again led the team in scoring, despite being double teamed, and rebounding with 11 points and nine rebounds. Riggs, in her first start, tacked on four points and eight rebounds. Cortnie Cuilla provided a spark off the bench with six points, while Rylee Cole led the team with four steals. Paige Niemi had six rebounds.
The Huskies traveled to Philomath on Tuesday and will host Taft this Friday.
Sweet Home 6 9 5 5 25
Central 10 13 6 16 45
Sweet Home: Hamn 11, Cuilla 6, Riggs 4, Whitfield 2, Davis 2
Central: McLean 11, Cuellar 10, Pflaum 8, Riddell 7, Hedrick 4, Mason 2, Kenyon 2, Waterman 1