Stayton 42
Sweet Home 38
The only way the last game played in the high school gym could have been better Friday night was if the Huskies had won it.
Among their best outings this season, the Huskies barely missed the mark against Stayton, losing 42-38.
“I thought it was the epitome of high school basketball,” Coach Mark Risen said. The game featured two teams playing hard, playing well and executing down the stretch. The fans were into it and the atmosphere charged. Both coaches were changing offense and defense throughout the game.
Stayton had everything to lose with an unblemished league record while the Huskies, 2-7, had everything to gain.
All of it combined to make a show worthy of that gym’s last night in action, where Coach Risen said the Huskies have won some 85 percent of their games over the last 30 years.
“There’s really no loser in a game like that,” Coach Risen said.
The Huskies were up 38-35 with about 1:50 left on the clock.
Stayton scored twice to go up 39-38. The Huskies missed a field goal with 50 seconds left and put Stayton on the foul line for one point. The Huskies missed another good look at the bucket before putting Stayton back on the free throw line for another two points.
“It was nip and tuck the whole way through,” Coach Risen said. “We told them (the Huskies) we’re really proud of them. They’re (Stayton’s) coach said that was probably the best coaching job I’ve ever done” given the circumstances of the game, and he was impressed by the “good old Sweet Home spirit,” which says that no matter what the score or whom they are playing, Sweet Home will play hard.
“For all of these reasons, we’re really proud of them,” Coach Risen said. As the season possibly ends this week, the game gives a glimpse into the future.
The Huskies will go from being the youngest team in the conference to one of the two oldest teams next year, Coach Risen said. “You’ve seen glimpses of greatness in this team. As we continue to work in the off season and hone our skills, the glimpses will turn into stretches.”
Charlie Fitzsimmons played great varsity ball starting for the Huskies Friday night, Coach Risen said. The junior varsity played the entire first quarter shooting 1-3 for two points and three rebounds. He was selected to start the game in an elimination drill.
Down to four starters, Coach Risen told them to pick four other players. If any of them got an offensive rebound in the drill, they would get to start Friday night.
“The goal of doing that was … to make it more competitive,” Coach Risen said. “(Second), starters are starters for a reason. They get the job done,” and it gave them a confidence boost.
Fitzsimmons is a freshman, Coach Risen said, but he’s fearless. Let him know what needs to be done, he does it.
The Huskies lost 61-50 at Cascade on Tuesday last week.
“Again we played okay,” Coach Risen said. “We had some really good moments but had some big mental letdowns. It’s kind of been our nemesis all season. Overall, we played a solid game.”
With two minutes left, the Huskies were in a four-point game, then they put Cascade on the foul line.
“We were without Tyler Emmert that night,” Coach Risen said. “They just pounded it inside on us.”
Cascade scored 46 points in the paint. Preventing that was one of the game’s most important keys.
“It was evident their post players, they’ve just played more basketball than our post players,” Coach Risen said.
The Huskies faced North Marion Tuesday night. The results of the game were unavailable at press time. If the Huskies won, they finish fifth in league behind Molalla. If they lost, they finish in a tie with North Marion. North Marion would have defeated the Huskies twice automatically winning the tie and being the fifth-place team. The winner faces Molalla Saturday night in conference playoffs.