The Husky boys held off a persistent Newport attack Jan. 11 to win 68-61 at home.
“It was close throughout the game,” Coach Tim Little said.
Sweet Home led 17-15 after the first quarter and 34-30 at halftime. The Huskies opened the lead up in the third quarter to lead 52-42 after leading by as much as 14 points. Garrett Kauffman gave the Huskies their needed boost on offense that quarter, hammering Newport with 14 of 18 Husky points.
The Huskies defense worked better, holding Newport to 12 that quarter.
“We seem to play better defensively when our offense is clicking,” Coach Little said.
Newport made a big run at the end of the game to close the lead some.
Overall, “defensively, we had a little bit of trouble,” Coach Little said. “Most of it was transition stuff.”
Kauffman led Husky scoring with 24 points. Cody Shipp added 11; Alex Ritzman, 10 with eight rebounds; Ryan Elliott, nine; Aaron Forquer, seven; Ravi Patel, four; and Matt Morneault, three. Andy Worley and Mark Lewis played but did not score.
The Huskies traveled to Banks for another close one and lost 67-63 Friday night.
“We had trouble getting it going the first half,” Coach Little said. Banks led 18-14 after one then pushed the lead to 14 in the second quarter.
Banks led 41-30 at halftime. The Huskies managed to close the gap to just two points in the third quarter, outscoring Banks 20-12 and trailing 53-50 at the end of the quarter.
Banks hit its free throws, and the Huskies had a hard time getting the stops they needed at the end to win the game, Coach Little said. The Husky defense is good overall, but the team will focus on the little things that are making a difference in their game right now.
“Banks is a pretty solid team,” Coach Little said. “They have the leading scorer in the state. We tried to focus on him the majority of the time. He (Blok) pretty much still did what he wanted. He had 32 points.”
The Huskies also ran a little shorthanded on Friday night because of some team issues, Coach Little said, but mostly, “I think we’re just ready for league.
“We’re in the hunt, especially if we play as well as we’re capable of. I honestly believe we’re one of the top six teams in the state, but I think it takes the pressure of a must-win situation to step up your game.”
Kauffman led scoring with 15 points. Shipp added 13; Elliott, 11; Ritzman, 10; Forquer, six; Morneault, four; and Patel, four. Lewis played but did not score.
The Huskies are 8-6 going into league playoffs at home against Molalla Tuesday night. Information on that game was unavailable at press time.