By Jesse Sowa
Albany Democrat-Herald | Posted: Saturday, February 3, 2007 12:00 am
INDEPENDENCE - A back-and-forth game came down to the final minute.
One big difference: Central made the plays and Sweet Home didn't.
Central scored the last five points of the game to take a 44-40 win in Val-Co League boys basketball play.
The win gave the host Panthers sole possession of second place in the league with four games to play.
"We showed a little bit of youth at the end there," Sweet Home coach Tim Little said of his team, which lacked much varsity experience going into the season.
"We just had some untimely turnovers, and playing at this court, Central is tough to beat with the crowd."
Sweet Home (8-11, 4-4 league) led 40-39 with 1:26 remaining on two free throws by junior wing Gabe Kauffman, who had a game-high 18 points, including 12 in the second half.
From there, Central (8-11, 5-3) had a turnover before the Panthers managed a jump-ball off a Sweet Home inbounds play.
Central's Justin Cuellar made one of two foul shots. Kauffman grabbed the rebound on the miss but stepped on the baseline.
Jamie Dale scored for the Panthers on an inbounds play with 41 seconds left to make it 42-40 Central.
Sweet Home missed all three of its shots in the closing seconds.
Cuellar's dunk with 20 seconds remaining capped the Central win.
Cuellar led the Panthers with 15 points despite shooting 2 of 13 from the free-throw line.
Central was 6 of 21 on foul shots and Sweet Home made 7 of 10.
Brandon Weist had eight points and Ryan Graville seven for Sweet Home.
Little said his team hasn't practiced many situations where the game was on the line.
"The pressure for these kids was a lot to handle. But we got good experience tonight," he said.
Sweet Home led 23-19 in the third before Central scored 10 straight.
The Huskies answered with consecutive 3-pointers by Kauffman and trailed 31-29 at the end of the period.
Little said he saw in a few of his players some "body language that was a deflation of attitude" after Central's run, forcing the coach to make some substitutions.
"The kids I had in there battled back," Little said.
After the coaches left the lockerroom, the players gathered to regroup and console each other over a loss in a game that they described as a must-win.
The Huskies vowed to come back strong.
"It was a tough loss," Kauffman said. "But we played our hearts out and that's all that matters."
Little said his team sees every remaining game as a must-win.
The top two teams in the league make the state playoffs. The league winner gets an automatic berth, and the second and third teams will play after the regular season to decide the second seed.
The Huskies learned their lesson about treating some teams lightly after losing to last-place Taft at home last week, Little said.
It's been a roller coaster for Sweet Home, which has two wins against league-leading Philomath and now two losses to Central.
Sweet Home hosts Philomath on Tuesday to begin the third and final trip through the Val-Co schedule.
"We're kind of peaking at the right time, and we're not out of it," Little said. "Keep chugging along and hopefully it turns out."
Sweet Home 6 13 10 11 - 40
Central 4 13 14 13 - 44
Sweet Home (40): Gabe Kauffman 18, Lingenfelter, Emmert 4, Worley 1, Hay, Graville 7, Weist 8, Nunn, Ball, Whitfield 2. Totals: 12, 7-10, 40.
Central (44): Justin Cuellar 15, Music 2, Bice 10, Pratt, Waterman, Hamilton 5, DesMarteau 2, Dale 9. Totals: 16, 6-21, 44.
3-pointers: Sweet Home 3 (Kauffman 2, Graville), Central 2 (Bice 2).