Sweet Home 58
Cascade 48
The Huskies topped Cascade 58-48 Friday night at home to move into a tie Stayton for the top spot in the Capital Conference.
The Cougars took the early lead in the game, but Garrett Kauffman scored two three-pointers at the end of the first quarter, and the Huskies scored four at the beginning of the second quarter to take the lead.
Cascade kept up with the Huskies in the second quarter and “hit their free throws” to take a 29-28 lead at halftime, Coach Tim Little said. “I talked to the kids at halftime about just staying mentally focused instead of getting frustrated about things they didn’t control,” like the refs or Cascade’s style of play.
The Husky played better defense in the second half holding Cascade to 19 points. The score went back and forth over the first four minutes of the half.
“We went into our second rotation of kids, and defensively, they made the difference,” Coach Little said. “We took care of the ball better in the second half and limited our mistakes. We still didn’t play outstanding, but we just kept at it.”
The Huskies started building their lead and held it through the end of the game for the 10-point win.
The Huskies seem to have someone different step up every night to lead. Friday night, that was Garrett Kauffman, who scored 25 points, Coach Little said. Ryan Elliott and Charlie Fitzsimons were key on defense, and Andy Worley, though he didn’t score, played great pulling down boards for the Huskies.
Cascade is a physical team that was picked to finish second in league, Coach Little said. “We knew it was going to be a dogfight coming in. There’s quite a rivalry there between us that’s definitely developed over the last couple years. They’ve (Cascade) done well this season.”
Cascade received two technical fouls and had three players foul out Friday night.
Cascade entered league play with a record similar to the Sweet Home’s.
“Like I told the kids, we’re still improving each game,” Coach Little said. Many teams that started strong are not improving as much. “This is a team that at Christmas probably would have beaten us.”
At the start of the game, the Huskies keyed on their mental game and not letting their emotions control what they do, Coach Little said. “Honestly, I think that’s how Cascade has won as many games as they have. They get teams out of their rhythm and get them to play emotionally instead of disciplined.”
The Huskies also focused on Cascade’s two stars, Noah Keene and Kyle Silbernagle. Keene scored 19 on the game to lead the Cougars, but Aaron Forquer and Matt Morneault held Silbernagle to just four points, including only one field goal.
Coach Little is pleased with where the Huskies are at this point, he said. They are getting better and still have much more room for improvement.
“The league’s shaping up as good as we can possibly ask with one loss,” Coach Little said.
Also scoring for the Huskies were Ravi Patel with 11; Alex Ritzman, nine; Cody Shipp, six; Morneault, three; Forquer, two; and Fitzsimons, two.
The Huskies defeated Sisters 69-51 at Sisters on Tuesday last week. After coming out flat and trailing 17-14, the Huskies caught fire and built a 35-28 lead by halftime. They extended their lead to 57-41 in the third quarter.
Kauffman led scoring with 16 points. Forquer added 14; Worley, nine; Patel, nine; Shipp, eight; Ritzman, four; Elliott, four; Morneault, four; and Fitzsimons, one.
James Mohl led the Outlaws with 13 points. Guy Moont added 10.
The Huskies hold a 3-1 league record. They will face Molalla on Friday night at Molalla and Stayton on Tuesday night at home.
Stayton defeated the Huskies at Stayton the last time they met. The team isn’t looking at Stayton yet.
“We’re start preparing for them on the weekend, after we take care of business tomorrow and Friday,” Coach Little said. “That game won’t matter if we don’t take care of business this week.”