The Husky boys basketball team lost 59-46 at Stayton on Tuesday last week and 38-35 hosting North Marion on Friday.
“We played really well at Stayton,” Coach Mark Risen said. “I thought we played as a team. We played hard. We won in several hustle categories.”
Stayton led 13-12 at the end of the first quarter and 30-20 at halftime. At that point, the Huskies had missed a dozen free throws. A four-minute lapse in the first four minutes of the third quarter let Stayton build an unreachable lead. Stayton led 47-30 after the third.
“I thought that we played better in that game than we have in the past few weeks,” Coach Risen said. “The kids executed well at both ends of the floor.”
Matt Matuszak had an excellent game, scoring 17 points with seven assists.
“He’s doing a great job of running the show for us at point,” Coach Risen said. Tyler Emmert also played well with nine points and seven rebounds.
Ricky Howe added 11 points; Brian Seward, four; Matt Morneault, three; and Mike Severns, two.
Leading scoring for Stayton were Ian Dayton, 16; Kevin Radish, nine; Casey Dark, eight; and Jarred Starback, seven.
“North Marion was very frustrating for everybody,” Coach Risen said. “We came out and established ourselves right off the bat on both ends of the floor. North Marion did a good job of running their delay game and slowing the game down on us to take us out of our game.”
The Huskies led 12-8 after the first quarter. They built a 22-15 lead by halftime. North Marion closed the gap in the third to get within one point, 27-26.
Poor shot selection with no team execution on offense during the last five minutes let North Marion take the game, Coach Risen said. “We’re really big on roles. Everybody has a role, and basketball is such an intricate team sport … it takes everybody knowing their roles and staying in them down the stretch.”
Howe led Husky scoring with 17 points. Matuszak and Matt Slauson added six each, and Morneault, Emmert and Mink each added two points.
Leading North Marion were Tavtfelt with nine; Kattle, eight; Murray, six; and Kelleher, six.