Running a tough gauntlet last week, the Husky boys basketball team lost 73-61 hosting Marist and 59-42 at Sisters but finished with a 52-38 win at home with Gladstone.
“The week in general, we’re not happy about giving up 73 points and then we gave up 59 points at Sisters,” Coach Tim Little said. “No mater how good you are, it’s tough to win games when you give up that many points.”
The Huskies played Marist, then-ranked number two in the state polls, closely Tuesday night at home.
“I thought we played pretty well against them actually,” Little said. The tough part for the Huskies was the deep bench they faced.
Marist had 11 or 12 guys who could come in and play well, Little said. By contrast, the Huskies’ bench is younger and doesn’t have as much varsity experience.
“They’re uptempo,” he said. “With 12 guys, you can do that. We’re not that deep. We tried to run with them, and that’s what cost us the game.”
In this game and then against Sisters on Friday, they learned that without the depth, they need to play their own game, a little slower and more disciplined on offense, Little said. “We need to take tour time, stick to our own style.”
Gabe Kauffman fouled out with about six minutes left on that game, Little said, and that hurt the Huskies defensively.
The Huskies trailed 17-15 at the end of the first quarter and 36-30 at halftime. After three, they trailed 49-42.
After trailing four to eight points most of the night, the Huskies got within two points with a minute and a half left.
“We put back-to-back stops together, and Colton (Emmert) hit a couple shots,” Little said. Josh Riggs drew a foul and got on the line but failed to connect and get a tie score.
“Our mistakes cost us this game in turnovers and defensive breakdowns,” Little said. Marist came up with 26 offensive rebounds. That’s 26 extra possessions and chances to score.
Emmert led Husky scoring with 27 points. Gabe Kauffman, Jerad Olsen and Riggs added eight each. Ryan Graville scored six, and Levi Marchbanks, four.
David Berney led Marist scoring with 17 points. Trevor Clemons added 16.
Sisters was pretty much an eight-point game Friday night on the road, Little said.
Sisters had a 12-11 lead after one quarter and a 28-20 lead at halftime. At the end of the third quarter Sisters led 42-31.
Sisters shot the ball well, including nine threes, and again had a deep bench, Little said, while the Huskies shot 23 percent from the field, too often rushing their offense.
“We definitely felt they played better than Marist did,” Little said.
Kauffman led scoring with 18 points. Emmert added 12; Olsen, two; and Marchbanks, one.
David Ketcham led Sisters scoring with 17 points.
The Huskies hosted Gladstone on Saturday and turned their fortunes around.
Gladstone is “not as talented a team as Sisters or Marist,” Little said. “We played more our own style and took time offensively to get better looks.”
Gladstone pressed the Huskies, but the Huskies got by the press all right, Little said. Gladstone also ran a zone defense, something the Huskies hadn’t seen yet this season.
The Huskies had a 12-4 lead after the first quarter. They led 17-14 at halftime and 29-20 at the end of the third quarter.
Kauffman led Husky scoring with 21 points. Emmert added 14; Graville, nine; and Drew Emmert, Dustin Hay, Olsen and Brent Moyer, two each.
Taft led Gladstone scoring with 10 points. Applebee added eight.
The Huskies travel to Yamhill-Carlton on Wednesday and host Junction City on Friday. The junior varsity and freshmen will travel to a tournament at Junction City on Thursday. The team is then on a break until Dec. 28.
The Huskies are 4-3.