The Huskies lost games last week to Yamhill-Carlton, 55-46, at home on Dec. 16 and at Cascade, 64-41, extending a losing streak to three games in boys basketball.
“The struggle continues,” said Coach Brandon Gaskey. “We let one (Yamhill-Carlton) get away, I think. We get a rematch on the 29th at the Stayton tournament.”
The Huskies, 2-3, trailed 14-8 after a quarter against Yamhill-Carlton and 26-16 at halftime. They got within five during the third, trailing 33-28.
Hunter Jutte led scoring against Yamhill-Carlton with 19 points; Tyler Plebuch, 10; Daniel Virtue, 6; Brycen Mitten, 4; Ryan Adams, 4; and Justin Tow, 2.
Last week, “we did not know what a good shot is and what a bad shot is,” Gaskey said. The Huskies shot 12.5 percent from the three-point line on 16 shots.
“We are struggling with being patient and shot selection,” Gaskey said. Instead of playing a wide open read and react game, the team must work as a team to get the high percentage shots.
Sweet Home is going to run into situations where opponents are shutting down the Huskies’ leading player, and the rest of the team needs to be able to pick it up.
At the same time, the Huskies have been short players, including Jake Bangot against Yamhill-Carlton and then Andre Holmes against Cascade.
Gaskey said the Huskies are playing a tough schedule too The three losses were all to top-11 teams.
Against Cascade, the Sweet Home led by two points right before halftime, Gaskey said, but they made a couple of mistakes. Cascade latched onto the opportunity and got ahead by five at halftime.
During the first half, the Huskies played a slow offense, getting the shots they wanted, Gaskey said. That changed during the second half, and Jutte, who scored eight points, was plagued by foul trouble and sitting most of the time until the final quarter.
Brycen Mitten played a great defensive game against 6-6 Stephan ZavyDovskyy, holding him to just two points at the post while outscoring him by five or six points, Gaskey said. Kyler Gaskey was back in action with some good defensive minutes.
Again, it was a quality opponent that had fought for a championship against North Valley just two years ago, Gaskey said. The program is established and well-coached and one of the top teams this year, while Sweet Home struggled with a lack of depth and consistency and lack of efficiency offensively.
Overall this season, the Huskies haven’t been shooting well from the field, Gaskey said. They’ve been forcing things, and they need to realize it’s OK to take 30 to 45 seconds before shooting the ball.
“It’s a little bit of a culture change,” Gaskey said. “It takes some getting used to.”
Sweet Home will play in the Stayton Tournament Monday through Wednesday, Dec. 29-31.