Philomath 44
Sweet Home 41
The Philomath Warriors turned a bad situation around on a third quarter run and slipped in front of the Husky boys basketball team for a 44-41 win.
The Huskies dominated the Warriors in offensive boards, putting up a 10-2 lead by the end of the first quarter and a 20-12 lead by halftime.
Philomath put together a 19-7 run in the third quarter to take a four-point lead. The Huskies answered with a run to start the fourth quarter and took the game to the wire.
With 47 seconds left, the Huskies were down three. Kevin Furry put up two, drawing a foul and missing what would have been the tying free throw.
With 40 seconds left, the Huskies were down one. They fouled Philomath two times. Both times, Philomath missed the free throws but came up with the rebound. The third time Philomath went to the line, the Huskies came up with the board and a chance to win.
Furry missed a pull-up jumper from the key with five seconds left. Philomath took the rebound and drew a foul with .7 seconds left and scored two on the free throws for the final margin.
The Huskies hurt Philomath on the offensive boards in the first half, Coach Mark Risen said. They decided to keep going that way.
“We got confused as to what that meant,” Coach Risen said. “We gave them some transition baskets. That’s what put them back in the game.”
Philomath is ranked number one in the state, Coach Risen said. “They’re a good team. They are the kind of team we want to play to get ready for league.… To play wire to wire with one of the best teams in the state, that tells you the kind of potential we have.”
The Huskies didn’t play well in the second half, Coach Risen said, and they still played to the wire with Philomath.
Wes Smith led the Husky charge with 11 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.
Josh Bondesen played “really good D” on Philomath’s star, Logan Garvin, Coach Risen said.
Also scoring were Jake Gaskey, Aaron Hegge and Matt Matuszak with six points each. Bondesen, Casey Aiello and Furry each scored four.