By Keeghan Gittins
For The New Era
Sweet Home’s boys opened their league basketball season on Jan. 20 with a road matchup against No. 8 Philomath, falling 52-49.
The Huskies then returned home and lost, 60-54 to No. 7 Stayton.
With the two losses, Sweet Home has now lost five games in a row.
“We gave up multiple (offensive) boards late in the game, which really hurt us versus Philomath,” said Coach Drew Emmert.
The Huskies led by eight with four minutes to play, but Philomath was able to swing the game late. The Warriors grabbed three offensive rebounds and got eight free throw attempts, making six. Sweet Home was unable to regain the lead in the closing minutes.
In the home loss to Stayton, Sweet Home stayed within reach down the stretch, despite adversity. Bradyn McClure fouled out with 4:30 remaining, forcing the Huskies to finish the game without their leading scorer.
With two minutes to go, Mason Tyler was fouled and made both free throws to cut the deficit to three. Sweet Home continued to battle late, as a bucket by Kellen Hartsook made it 56-52 with 24 seconds to go, but the Huskies were unable to close the gap before the final horn.
“Yeah, it has been a tough stretch,” Emmert said. “We’re 0-2 in league but we played two of the top three teams in the league, who are both ranked in the top 10 in state, and had a chance in both of them.
“We need to find another gear late in games. We need to make sure we execute better offensively late games.”
Opponents have focused on limiting Sweet Home’s leading scorer.
“Teams are doing a good job of trying to limit Bradyn. He has scored at such a high level all year, teams are really keying in on him. He has got a couple tough charge calls against him the last few games, as teams always have a help defender in the paint when he gets it to try and take his drive away,” Emmert said.
Turnovers and free throws have been the story all year long in close games. Sweet Home averages 18 turnovers a game and is shooting 54% from the free throw line as a team.
Despite the recent results, Sweet Home has seen other players step up offensively.
Sophomore Mason Tyler has stepped up big offensively, averaging 15.4 points per game over the last five games while shooting 41% from three on six attempts a game. Hartsook has also chipped in with nine points per game while shooting almost 60% from the field.
“I am proud of the way we have been competing though and have had a few guys really step up,” Emmert said. “Mason has scored 24 and 17 in the two league games and is really stepping up.
“Daniel (McCubbins) has upped his production as well. I’m excited for us to bounce back on Tuesday. Our guys have been playing hard and having really good stretches.
“We just need to finish games out.”
