The Husky boy’s basketball team lost a tight game 44-40 at Central Friday night after dominating Newport 42-29 at home on Jan. 31, leaving the team sitting at third in league standings.
Central was a “close game,” Coach Tim Little said. “The whole game, there was never more than four points difference the whole way.”
The Huskies were leading 40-39 with about a minute left on the game, Little said. Central scored, and then the Huskies turned the ball over on the inbound. The Huskies stopped Central and then ran a play to the middle, knocking it back out to Colton Emmert for a three attempt. He missed.
Central drew a foul on the next play sinking a field goal and the extra point at the foul line.
“We played really well,” Little said. “That’s a difficult place to play.”
The Huskies led 6-4 after the first quarter and maintained the lead 19-17 at halftime. They went up by four in the third, and Central went a run to take a four-point lead. Gabe Kauffman hit back-to-back threes to retake the lead in the third.
“Gabe had a great third quarter,” Little said.
Central managed to keep a 31-29 lead at the end of the third.
“In the fourth quarter, Brandon Weist had a couple of big buckets for us,” Little said, swinging the lead back to the Huskies.
“Defensively, for us it was a strong showing to hold to 39 points, no matter who we’re playing,” Little said. “It gives us a chance to win.”
The last time the Huskies faced Central, they lost by nine at home, Little said.
Kauffman led Husky scoring with 18 points. Brandon Weist added eight; Ryan Graville, seven; Emmert, four; Nathan Whitfield, two; and Ricky Worley, one. Ray Lingenfelter, Dustin Hay, Josh Riggs and Jon Ball played but did not score.
Justin Cuella led Central with 15. Tyler Bice added 10, and Jamie Dale, nine.
The last time the Huskies saw Newport, they lost by two, but the Huskies dished up a little revenge last week at home.
Newport’s zone perplexed the Huskies the last time the two teams met, but the Huskies worked on dealing with that zone.
“We focused on things we didn’t do against them at their place,” Little said. The team worked on attacking the zone and ball movement, knowing this would be a big game.
Once they were up, the Huskies stalled their attack, moving the ball around the perimeter and running clock off.
The Huskies held Newport to an eight-point first half, leading 23-8. They played out to a 20-point lead and started getting their reserves some playing time.
“Even by 16, I don’t even think it was that close,” Little said.
Kauffman led scoring with 16 points. Weist added 12; Graville, eight; and Emmert, Worley and Brandon Nunn, two each. Xiang Li, Hay, Riggs, Ball, Lingenfelter and Whitfield played but did not score.
C. Shriver led Newport with 10 points. S. Leggett added five.
The Huskies were 4-4 at the end of the week with games scheduled against Philomath on Tuesday, Taft on Thursday, Newport on Feb. 16 and Central on Feb. 20.
During the last four games, Philomath would need to lose to Central, and Central would need to lose to Taft or Newport to create a three-way tie for first place. The Huskies would need to win all four of the remaining games.
“One thing we take from Friday, is we know we can beat them (Central),” Little said. “We’re kind of peaking at the right time, with four games left.”
Standings
Philomath 6-2
Central 5-3
Sweet Home 4-4
Newport 3-5
Taft 2-6