The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

The boys basketball team notched their fourth straight win as they closed out the regular season with a 59-33 victory at La Pine on Friday, February 18. Two days earlier the Outlaws defeated Elmira at home in a final score of 51-33.

In Wednesday's matchup, Sisters trailed Elmira for most of the first period, but buckets from Sebastian Boehm and Jalen Miller at the end of the quarter pulled Sisters to a 9-9 tie.

A huge three-point shot from Jordan Hodges early in the second quarter gave Sisters their first lead of the night at 12-11. Elmira came right back with a bucket to regain the lead but threes from Hodges and Eli Harrison put the Outlaws up 20-16 at the half.

Timely threes from Harrison and Boehm, and seven points from Chase Goff, pushed Sisters to an 11-point lead to close out the third quarter. Sisters owned the floor in the final period. The Outlaws pulled Elmira out of their zone defense and held them to just six points on offense. With good help from the Outlaws' bench, Sisters cruised to a 51-33 victory.

"I am especially happy with this victory," said Coach Rand Runco. "The teams we are playing are throwing a lot of things at us and we are slowly becoming a veteran ball team."

Runco told The Nugget he was impressed with the team's unselfish play.

"John (Erickson) and Eli (Harrison) didn't force shots, and the rest of the team stepped up," stated Runco.

Sisters was 9/10 from the line and had a total of only eight turnovers in the game.

Two days later, the Outlaws defeated the Hawks at La Pine in their final league game of the season. Sisters needed the win to hang onto second place in league standings, which gets Sisters a first-round home playoff game.

"La Pine used three defenses to attack us and we had a bit of a slow start," stated Runco. "We executed poorly and didn't let the game come to us early in the game. We did a little better in the second quarter and picked up the pace in the third."

Sisters held a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter, and at the half had pushed to a 22-12 advantage. The Outlaws poured it on in the third period and outscored the Hawks 21-4.

Runco pulled some of his starters in the final period and tried several different player combinations. The Outlaws held onto the lead and beat the Hawks by 26 points.

The first round of playoffs is a play-in game where the Sky-Em League will be matched against the Oregon West League, which are both traditionally two of the best basketball leagues in the state. Sisters will play at home on Friday, February 25, against either Stayton or Philomath, both very tough opponents. The winner of the play-in game will advance to the first round of state on March 1.