By Sean Patterson
for the Herald

Canby held its own in spurts last week against Wilson and West Albany, but ultimately, that wasn't enough to carry the Canby High School boys basketball team to victories in either game.

Thursday at Wilson, the Cougars put together perhaps their best quarter of the season, playing the Trojans to a 15-15 tie after one period, but a lapse in the second quarter opened the door for Wilson to pull away for a 74-55 victory that dropped CHS to 0-4 on the season.

Two nights before, the host Cougars struggled to keep West Albany out of the paint in a 61-56 defeat in Canby.

With that, Canby was left with a series of questions to answer as the team embarks on its Pacific-9 Conference schedule this week. The boys were at Newberg Friday and will be home for Tualatin Friday at 7:15 p.m.

"We're playing well in spurts, but we've struggled with consistency on both ends of the floor," head coach Dennis Burke said of his team's slow start.

"Defensively, we were soft against West Albany. We were lethargic and they picked us apart inside. Their leading scorer (Byron Orth) had 25 points, and I don't think he ever had to leave the basket.

''We came out strong against Wilson, but again we started making turnovers and missing shots with the game on the line. They're a very good team and they earned it, but we could've been a lot more competitive.''

The Cougars only trailed by seven late in the third quarter Thursday, but Wilson played a near flawless fourth to make sure there would be no comeback.

The Trojans hit eight of 10 shots in the period, including three three-pointers, and made five of six free throws.

Jelani Memory's 23 points, most of them coming off long-range jumpers, led the Trojans, but he had plenty of support. Both Chris Rogers and Robby Park chipped in 19 points each, with the latter getting most of them with five three-pointers.

For their part, the Cougars stayed within striking distance most of the game. Joe Yoder only missed one of his six shots in scoring 10 points and collecting nine rebounds, and T.J. Miller made good on 4 of 8 attempts to finish with 10 points and six boards.

Canby was led offensively by Jeremy Stewart and Buck Stone, both of whom finished with 12 points. Stone was particularly effective at the line, where he made all six free throws he tried.

As a team, the Cougars made 19 of 52 shots.

Tuesday night against West Albany, Canby was within three points with four seconds to go before the Bulldogs sank two free throws to win by five.

Orth had his way in the paint, while on the other end of the floor the Cougars too often settled for three-point shots. They took 21 in the game and only ended up making six of them.

"That was just a case of a lack of intensity and anticipation on our part," Burke said. "We talk about denying chances in the paint, but we were giving them free tickets. We were soft and not smart."

The Cougars complicated matters by committing 15 turnovers. On the bright side, Yoder and Stewart both reached double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

After this week's two league games, the Cougars will travel to South Medford High School for a tournament Dec. 28-30.