The girls water polo could have done almost nothing more to gain higher praise from Coach Adam Lloyd, who saw in its losses a team that is gelling and competing against tough odds.
Winning their games against Albany and South Salem might have done it, but the girls had already played their best game of the season against a deep team with fresh reinforcements the whole way.
The girls lost 11-8 to Albany, a team combined from West and South Albany, at home on Thursday.
Albany fielded more than 20 swimmers. The Huskies had eight girls, and they were hanging in the game almost to the end.
Krystle Streight fouled out with three exclusions in the fourth quarter. The Huskies were down by two and had only seven players left, just enough for a full team.
“She’s our leading scorer,” Coach Lloyd said. “She runs the offense.”
The team remaining tied the score by the middle of the fourth quarter.
With three minutes left, the team ran out of gas, tired after giving it their all, Coach Lloyd said.
Scoring for the Huskies were Justine Calhoon with three, Streight with two and Nichole Martin, Alice Davis and Dani Birky with one each. Liz Andersen had 13 saves at goal.
That tremendous effort carried on into Monday night’s matchup with South Salem, another team with more than 20 swimmers.
The team is in first place in the Valley Conference, but the Huskies played them tight, trailing 4-3 going into the fourth quarter.
South Salem finished with a 9-3 win, but the score doesn’t tell the story, Coach Lloyd said. The girls again lost steam toward the end, and “they (South Salem) started scoring at the end. It was a very close game. The girls played very well.”
Streight, Tee Whaley and Birky each scored one goal in the game.
“Liz had a phenomenal game,” Coach Lloyd said. She saved the ball 22 times.
The girls, from the beginning of the season have been working so hard,” Coach Lloyd said. He doesn’t have to look at the pool to see who’s not there because all of the girls are always at practice two times a day.
“It (the Albany and South Salem games) just shows how far they’ve come this season,” Coach Lloyd said.
The boys lost 13-5, also playing with limited numbers. They had only seven to start the game. Albany had more than 20. Seven players means the team has no subs, and the players get no breaks.
Jeff Stratman fouled out after halftime, leaving the Huskies playing one man down. That leaves the other team to run one more man on defense and help the goalie.
“They are giving a lot of effort in there, and it’s showing,” Coach Lloyd said. “It’s kind of heartbreaking when you’re going in and you’re playing a man down.”
The Huskies were clearly done at that point, Coach Lloyd said. The scoring gap was too big a mountain to climb when the other team could put in an entire fresh line in.
The boys fared better against South Salem Monday night, losing 3-2 in sudden death in the fourth overtime.
The Huskies led 2-0 going into the fourth quarter, Coach Lloyd said. “The defense was absolutely great.”
The Huskies were held to a low score to that point too.
“Their team had a very good goalie who just wasn’t letting anything past,” Coach Lloyd said. South Salem managed two goals to tie the game and send it to overtime.
In water polo, two three-minute overtime periods follow regulation play. Following those are three-minute sudden-death periods where the first to score wins. The game went into four extra periods before South Salem made the next goal.
John Lemar fouled out in the second overtime period, but the Huskies were still able to mount a defense and tough-fought game, Coach Lloyd said.
Against Albany, Larry Coulter and Stratman led scoring with two goals each. Lemar scored one.
Against South Salem, Matt Maloney and Ian Parks scored one goal each.
Goalie Shawn Adams had seven saves.
The teams were scheduled to play Lebanon Tuesday night then travel to Redmond on Friday for the final game of the regular season.
Following that game, the teams will compete in six-team tournaments. The top three from those tournaments go on to a state qualifying round then on to state playoffs.