Streaking Huskies making a return trip to Baker City

“It was obviously unfortunate to go to Baker and then have kids go to the hospital to be treated for pneumonia or the flu,” said Sherman head coach Bill Blevins. “I think we were playing pretty well at that point last year, so that was somewhat disappointing. Obviously, it is nice to get there, no matter how well you do, but I think the team feels that they have some unfinished business. I think we all want to represent better than what we were able to last year.”

Sherman led 13-6 after one quarter of play, and then opened up leads of 17-10 and 23-15, before the Eagles came back on an 8-5 run to make it 28-23 with one minute and 49 seconds left in the second quarter.

That was as close as Joseph would come.

The Huskies finished the opening stanza on an 8-0 run with a hoop by Treve Martin, consecutive baskets from Keenan Coles and two free throws by Max Martin to make it a 36-23 halftime lead.

Over the first 5:28 of the third quarter, Sherman clamped down defensively and opened the floor more for fast break opportunities and posted a 17-5 run to increase the lead to 53-28.

During that run, Treve Martin had two baskets, Max Martin added two 3-pointers, and Isaiah Coles added two layups and Jacob Justesen had two baskets.

Max Martin capped the 26-11 third-quarter run with a 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining to give the Huskies a 62-34 lead.

“Our game plan coming in was to attack and that’s what we did,” Max Martin said. “Jacob did a heck of a job attacking, dishing and he ran around the floor well and giving us open looks. We had Treve rebounding. We attacked and crashed the offensive glass and got what we wanted.”

In all, the Huskies hit on 29 field goals, nine 3-pointers, and shot 14 of 16 from the line.

Justesen scored a team-high 21 points, 12 in the second half, and Max Martin poured in 20 points, 13 in the second half of play.

Isaiah Coles added 15 points, Treve Martin hit for 14 and Keenan Coles went for seven points.

“The way they played defense against us, it gave me a chance to penetrate and either shoot it or dish it,” Justesen said. “Our offense works a lot better when we can break the other teams down and move the ball to an open player. Our focus was on getting to the rim a lot more and not relying on jump shots. When we play that style, we are a pretty tough team to stop.”

Joseph hit 17 field goals and made 9 of 17 free throws. Aaron Borgerding had 11 points, and Cayden DeLury, Jake Chrisman and Wyatt Smith each added nine points each.

Sherman is riding an 18-game winning streak and Justesen is grateful to be able to make another trip.

“We are both excited to get another opportunity, but we also realize how important it is for us to go down there focused on taking care of business,” Justesen said. “If we can continue to play our game, I think we have what it takes to achieve our goals.”

Sherman plays against Siletz Valley on Thursday.

No. 8 SWC loses to Siletz Valley

Through the first few minutes of Saturday’s 1A state sub-round game at Siletz Valley, the No. 8-ranked South Wasco County Redsides jumped ahead by a 6-2 score.

Over the next 29 minutes of regulation, No. 10 Siletz Valley outscored SWC 64-35 and came away with a 66-41 state sub-round victory Saturday.

“We didn’t have the energy. It was pretty evident to me. We just didn’t have it,” said SWC coach Jim Hull. “Whether that was the trip, whether it was anything else that might have been going on, we weren’t totally ourselves. Our shooting percentage was just horrendous. We were missing all of the shots that we were hitting against Powder. That creates its own frustrations, especially if it happens early, then it compounds itself to a big deficit.”

In all, the Redsides hit on 19 for 63 from the field, 8 of 27 in the first half. Siletz converted 25 of 59 shots, 12 of 26 in the second half, as Daniel Lindstrom and Angel DeAnda combined for 13 field goals, two 3-pointers, for 32 points.

Travis Hayes had 14 points on 6 of 26 from the field, Ellis Rager added 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Brody Myers tallied five points and seven boards.

Down 18-10 through one quarter, Siletz Valley added an 18-7 second-quarter run to lead 36-17.

SWC finishes with a 22-6 record, 11-3 in league play, two losses were to Sherman and the other came by forfeit, and the group also had a top-8 ranking.

“I don’t think we should hang our heads on tonight’s performance,” Hayes said. “Yeah, we definitely got out-played tonight and we weren’t the better team, but we had a great season all-in-all. If you have a 20-win season, I’d say that’s a pretty successful season.”