Tim Matuszak was voted most valuable player by his teammates last week.
Matuszak was also named defensive player of the year at an awards dessert on March 11.
Anthony Mink earned the free-throw award for shooting 91 percent from the foul line all season. He was also given the hustle award.
Tyler Emmert earned the Felix Wilkerson Sportsmanship Award.
Matt Morneault was named the junior varsity most valuable player.
The high school boys basketball teams voted on all of the awards except the free-throw award. Coaches only vote in ties, but there were no ties this year.
First-year letters were awarded to Matt Slauson, Ronak Patel, Ravi Patel, Garrett Kauffman, Seth Graves and Morneault. Chelsea Hegge was awarded a first-year letter for working three years as a manager and statistician.
Second-year letters were awarded to Brian Seward, Mink, Matuszak, Mike Severns, Ricky Howe and Tyler Emmert.
Matuszak was named the all-league second team, earning the second most votes of all underclassmen. Mink received all-league honorable mention.
Matuszak averaged 14 points per game in league and held his opponents to five points per game.
“He just had an incredible league run,” Coach Mark Risen said. Against Molalla, Matuszak scored 28 points in one game. The level-headed junior point guard is a leader and role model, even for coaches.
Mink had a tough time, Coach Risen said. After establishing himself last year, opponents were all over him, and he didn’t get the looks at the bucket that he did last year. He made up for it all over the court, and that’s why his teammates gave him the hustle award.
Ronak Patel is the epitome of the Husky program although he didn’t see much varsity playing time, Coach Risen said. He had an amazing attitude.
Ravi Patel is “an explosive offensive player,” Coach Risen said. The only thing holding him back is his own personal confidence in himself and will be a fantastic player.
Kauffman is an explosive shooter, Coach Risen said. He can shoot from anywhere on the court.
On the junior varsity squad, he led scoring and averaged two threes per game in the first eight games of league play.
Morneault has great leadership qualities, Coach Risen said. That netted him the junior varsity MVP award.
Seward, the team’s only senior, was selected to play in the Mid-Valley Classic at Crescent Valley.
“We were delighted to have him back,” Coach Risen said. “He was an excellent example of a role model, hard-working and enthusiastic.”
Howe got a bad rap in league play, Coach Risen said. He had explosive games where he would score 24 points and the next night just three or four. He missed the first three league games.
Emmert “exuded everything that epitomizes a Sweet ome basketball player on the court,” Coach Risen said. “That’s why he was selected for the Felix Wilkerson Sportsmanship Award.”
Slauson showed great improvement after not playing since the seventh grade, Coach Risen said. He hs “great feet and great hands,” and he keeps up the fun in the locker room.
Graves took on the job of the team’s “tough guy” under the basket, Coach Risen said. Severns did the same on the perimiter, and both gave strong minutes on defense.
League coaches probably overlooked him in all-conference voting as a result, Coach Risen said, but he thought Howe deserved conference recognition.
The Huskies struggled to come up with wins this year, finishing 2-8. The freshmen finished with a perfect league record. The junior varsity lost only two league games.
Coach Risen wanted to keep those two teams intact and avoid upsetting their chemistry in any effort to strengthen the varsity team this year. That would keep confidence up on both of those teams, which worked well together.
“We knew hoe young we were going in,” Coach Risen said. Other teams had at least four seniors. Sweet Home had one. Other teams returned a nucleus of six or seven players. Sweet Home really had two. With the addition of new players this year, in terms of basketball IQ, the team was even younger.
The team acted young, Coach Risen said. Against ranked teams, the Huskies would compete hard. Against teams they should have overrun, they played down.
They had inconsistent practice habits, Coach Risen said. What the season gave them was a chance to work on their chemistry and get some experience, develop roles and learn to understand various situations.
“We made some decisions to look down the road and go ahead and rebuild a little bit,” Coach Risen said. That let the players get some experience and a chance to play for a couple of years.
“Everyone in this program is used to winning,” Coach Risen said. “Every kids in the program is used to winning. We’re used to being at a very high level the last five years.
“You would think there ould be some negativity — Nada, zip, nothing, not a complaint,” Coach Risen said. From the players to the coaches and parents, attitudes were upbeat as the team fought through adversity.
“That just says a lot about the kids,” Coach Risen said. “And the parents are the same way as the kids. That’s a positive reflection of their families.”
As for the future, Coach Risen points to Cascade and Sisters, which won a combined six league games last year. This year they were second and third in league.
“With two teams that go well into the playoffs because they were juniors a year ago, you can make some projections for our team next year,” Coach Risen said.