Sweet Home lost its final game of the season 67-46 in boys basketball Friday at home against Junction City.
The Tigers pulled away in the first quarter, leading 18-12; but the Sweet Home kept it close, outscoring Junction City in the second, to trail just 32-29, in striking range, but the Huskies went scoreless for more than six minutes. The Tigers poured it on with an 15-0 run.
Daniel Virtue broke the Husky ice with a jumper. Justin Tow added another, and Jake Bangot hit two free throws, but the Huskies trailed 52-35 by the end of the quarter.
“All season long, we haven’t scored the basketball well,” said Coach Brandon Gaskey, and Junction City is a good defensive team. The Huskies played better in the second quarter, but losing quarters by two or three points doesn’t win games.
The team’s seniors had some great moments in their final game, Gaskey said. Kevin Seiber sank a couple of threes, and Hunter Jutte had a decent game. Ryan Adams had a big start.
But Sweet Home shot just 38.1 percent on the night, while Junction City put the ball through the net 58.1 percent of the time.
“It’s hard to win games like that,” Gaskey said. “We still haven’t learned what a good shot is.”
Still, Gaskey enjoyed the season, he said. “The wins and losses didn’t come the way I wanted them to.”
But for the most part, the coaching staff was able to change the team culture and get some good pieces in place for the future, he said. The Huskies may be a better team in the future as opposed to having better individual players. They will lean on each other a lot more, with two or three guys scoring 10 points per game.
He’s not knocking on this year’s team either, he said. No team would turn down a Hunter Jutte.
He is pleased by the improvement of some of the JV players, Gaskey said. Keanu Aiona has come a long way, and Justin Carpenter is a “heck of a shooter.” Bangot, Tow and Tyler Plebuch are all good defenders.
So Gaskey is optimistic about the team’s future, he said.
The Huskies finish 2-8 in league and 5-19 overall. They were fifth, ahead of Cottage Grove, with a 1-9 record. Elmira finished fourth with a 3-7 record.
Seventh-ranked Sutherlin was first with a 9-1 league record and 17-7 overall record. Junction City finished in second with an 8-2 league record and 16-8 overall record. Sisters was third with a 7-3 league record and 14-8 overall record.
Sutherlin defeated the Huskies 62-55 on Feb. 17 in Sutherlin.
Sweet Home trailed 19-12 after one quarter and 37-26 at halftime. Sutherlin expanded its lead to 49-34 in the third quarter. The Huskies outscored Sutherlin 21-13 in the fourth quarter.
Junction City 18 14 20 15 – 67
Sweet Home 12 17 6 11 – 46
Junction City scoring: Josh Hutchinson 22, Osburn 14, Martinez 11, Brown 7, Prescott 3, Gibson 2, Land 2, Vandenberge 2, Bolton 2, Hawkins, McIntyre.
Sweet Home scoring: Hunter Jutte 16, Kevin Seiber 6, Daniel Virtue 6, Ryan Adams 5, Brycen Mitten 4, Justin Carpenter 3, Justin Tow 3, Jake Bangot 3, Eric Burks, Tyler Plebuch, Kyler Gaskey, Keanu Aiona, Andre Holmes.
Sweet Home 12 14 8 21 – 55
Sutherlin 19 18 12 13 – 62
Sweet Home scoring: Adams 18, Jutte 9, Virtue 7, Mitten 6, Bangot 5, Tow 5, Seiber 3, Aiona 2, Carpenter, Plebuch, Gaskey, Holmes.
Sutherlin scoring: Blake Senman 19, Parent 18, Tucker 11, Hopkins 10, Porter 3, Gipson 1, Murphy, Hagewood.