In 2021 during a crazy monthlong pandemic-impacted basketball season that ran from late May to late June, the Philomath High boys basketball team suffered a rare 54-48 loss to Sweet Home.
In the eight games played since, the Warriors have not even come close to losing to the Huskies by winning margins that averaged 29 points.
Sweet Home (3-17 overall, 0-6 Oregon West) must have had thoughts of pulling off an upset over Philomath Tuesday evening when trailing just 18-14 at halftime. But in the end, the Warriors settled down and started making shots in what ended up as a 48-29 victory — the exact same outcome when they met earlier this season Jan. 21 in Sweet Home’s gym.
“They always come out playing hard,” PHS coach Blake Ecker said about the Huskies. “They have nothing to lose so they’re going to play hard and you better be ready to play. And we weren’t ready to play.”
The two teams traded baskets — in between a lot of misses on both ends — throughout the first half. The Huskies had a 14-11 lead with 1:53 left in the half when freshman Mason Tyler stole the ball under his team’s own hoop and scored.
That moment in the game seemed to light a fire under the Warriors with the home team finishing the half on a 7-0 run. Senior Logan Matthews drove to the hoop on the team’s next possession and cut the deficit to 14-13. Then after a defensive stop, sophomore Esias Sapp cashed in for three points on the other end to give the Warriors a 16-14 lead. Senior Zack Powers added another two on a layup with 22 seconds left.
“We were getting every shot we wanted and we just couldn’t make a shot,” Ecker said, estimating that his team probably shot less than 20% in the first half. “We started making a few more in the second half, which is good, I mean, we need to make shots to win.”
By the end of the third quarter, Philomath appeared to have the game in hand with a 31-19 lead. The Warriors (11-8, 5-1) started to produce inside with Powers and sophomore Jamin Peters hitting baskets and drawing fouls to get to the free-throw line.
In the fourth, 3-pointers by senior Caleb Russell and Sapp served as daggers to Sweet Home’s chances.
Matthews and Powers each scored nine to lead PHS scorers in the win. Russell finished with eight and senior Hudson Raab came off the bench to score seven.
Sophomore Kellen Hartsook had nine points to lead the Huskies.
Prior to tipoff, the school recognized Ecker’s 400th victory with a short presentation at midcourt. (More on that in Warrior Watch later this week).
Philomath is sitting all alone in second place in the Oregon West Conference standings with a 5-1 record. Cascade leads the pack at 6-0 with Newport sitting in third at 4-2. Cascade (No. 2), Stayton (No. 7), Newport (No. 8), Philomath (No. 9) and North Marion (No. 10) are all ranked in the OSAA’s top 10.
The Warriors are scheduled to play at 5:30 p.m. Friday at North Marion, although poor weather conditions that are expected to roll in this week could impact travel plans.
