Sweet Home boys basketball opened their season with a win at home followed by a loss on the road.
On Dec. 1, the Huskies prevailed in their opener over Elmira, 44-26.
Sophomore Nathan Aker led the team in scoring in his first varsity game, putting in 11 points on 4-7 shooting from the field. Seniors Russ Holly and Eddie Martinez each chipped in for 10 points, as Holly connected twice from behind the arc.
“I thought we played really good in that game, especially defensively,” said Head Coach Drew Emmert. “You aren’t going to lose many games holding teams to 26 points.”
“We had a lot of people play well,” the coach continued. “One person didn’t carry us offensively. It was a team effort. As a whole we really stuck to our roles. Everyone did exactly what we were supposed to do.”
Over the weekend, Emmert was pleased with his team’s effort on the road against Portland area school Gladstone, a squad that was ranked in the preseason top 10 for 4A. The Huskies fell 39-33, but had a one point lead late in the third quarter and were tied with the Gladiators in the fourth.
“It was pretty back and forth. They never had more than an eight point lead,” Emmert said of the contest.
“We played really well against a really good team,” he said. “Going all the way up there, we knew it was going to be a good test.”
But he said his team had too many turnovers and didn’t rebound as well as they could have. The Huskies gave the ball away 22 times, and allowed the Gladiators to secure 18 offensive rebounds.
“They had a half court trap and we didn’t do a great job of breaking it,” Emmert said, citing some “floppy passes.” To secure more boards, the coach said “We need to box out a little better and be a little tougher.” But overall, he emphasized that he was “proud of the way we competed.”
Holly led his team in scoring against the Gladiators, going 5-12 from the field en route to 14 points. The senior again connected on two three pointers. Aker scored 11 points for the Huskies, including a three pointer of his own.
Sweet Home hosts Molalla on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 7:00 p.m. This weekend, they will compete in the Junction City Les Schwab Holiday Classic, squaring off first against the host Junction City on Friday, Dec. 10 at 8:00 p.m., followed by a Saturday contest with an opponent and time to be determined.