The summer Huskies boys basketball team placed second in a tournament they hosted Saturday, the first of their summer games.
They lost the championship round by two points to Hidden Valley, the team that eliminated them from playoffs in the 2008 basketball season.
The Huskies got there by beating Cascade by a single point and Regis by some 25, and they did it without scoring powerhouse Gavin Kauffman, who was unable to play that day.
“Second place, without one of your top scorers, is a pretty good start,” Coach Kostanty Knurowski said. The field included two top-10 teams from the 2009 season.
Sweet Home High School had three teams in two eight-team tournaments, one at varsity level and the other two at the JV level.
Trailing by around eight points just after halftime, Cascade whittled away at the Husky lead and got ahead in the last minute of the game. The Huskies were able to scratch out one more point and move to the championship.
“The last one was a really good game,” Knurowski said. The game went back and forth, with neither team leading by more than five or six points.
The first games of the year, it was good to see some of the Huskies get time on the floor, Knurowski said. “I was really pleased. It’s tough not playing with Gavin.
“Drew Emmert played well the whole tournament. He really shot the ball well in all three games.”
Brent Moyer played great defense and took good care of the ball, scoring decently for the Huskies, Knurowski said.
Brock Cota and Levi Marchbanks were busy with SATs in the morning, so they missed the Regis game, but they made up for it with great play when they went against Cascade.
“Everybody contributed,” Knurowski said. “Jerome (Coleman) played quite a few minutes.”
Coleman, Cota, Marchbanks, Emmert and Moyer are all incoming seniors. Kauffman is a junior.
Joining them on the floor were swing players from the 2009 season John Webb, a senior, and Taylor Mauch, a junior.
“It’s good to see them get out and contribute a little bit,” Knurowski said.
A couple of seniors, Taylor Tagle and Tim Schatz, are joining the Huskies for the summer. Junior Trevor Pitts returns after a year off from basketball. Pitts did not play against Regis.
With those three, in particular, it’s a matter of working the rough off, Knurowski said. They haven’t spent much time in competitive basketball situations, but all three contributed.
“Varsity-wise, I really wanted to play some tough competition, and fortunately, we were able to get that,” Knurowski said.
The JV won the JV tournament by beating Regis, Pleasant Hill and then North Marion in the championship. The JV2 lost a close game to La Pine and then Philomath before beating Junction City.