Sweet Home’s boys finished their second week of pre-season play Wednesday, Dec. 10, with a 3-2 record after wins over Cottage Grove and South Umpqua.
The Huskies took it to the Lions Tuesday, Dec. 9, on the road.
“Cottage Grove is a good program,” Coach Drew Emmert said, noting that the Lions have gotten off to a slow start this season, losing to Newport and Scio before falling 66-32 to the Huskies.
“We knew they would be a tough team, but we played really well.”
Bradyn McClure and Kellen Hartsook both scored 18 points for the Huskies, with Alex Bachand contributing eight more to account for most of their scoring. McClure also led the team defensively with five steals and seven deflections in the game and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
Sweet Home led by “10 or so” at halftime, but pulled away later in the game to hand the hosts their biggest loss of the young season. Cascade beat Cottage Grove 61-48 Friday.
“We got a lot of turnovers and that helped us,” Emmert said.
At home the next night against South Umpqua, the Huskies pulled out a 56-43 win.
The Lancers dropped down to the 3A level a few years ago and came into the game 2-1, and Emmert said the Huskies expected them to be a “solid team.”
But when Sweet Home hit the gas pedal early, South Umpqua was left behind.
“We got on them and were up 22-3 at one point before they started chipping away,” Emmert said, noting that his team never trailed but “ran out of gas” a little at the end.
McClure scored 17 and Hartsook 15, plus eight rebounds, to lead the team once again, with Mason Tyler adding 12 points. McClure and Trent Harvey both contributed three steals each on defense.
The Huskies face Estacada (3-3 coming into the game at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday) at home, then host Molalla, which was 5-0 coming into this week, on Thursday, Dec. 18. Game time is 7 p.m.
“Both of these will be tough teams,” Emmert said.