The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

The Lady Outlaws hosted their annual Holiday Tournament, Thurs. through Sat., December 27-29. Sisters posted a win in their first game, then lost the next two. Banks took championship honors, Junction City was runner-up, and Molalla took third.

Sisters demolished Estacada in their opening game of the tournament on Thursday. The Outlaws played cohesively and as a team throughout the contest, significantly cut down on their turnovers as a whole, and continuously rebounded on the defensive and offensive end.

It was a very low-scoring first quarter that ended with Sisters on top 5-3. The Outlaws put up 17 points in the second period to take a 22-9 advantage at the half.

Sisters outscored Estacada 13-6 in the second half and recorded the win.

The Outlaws had positive contributions from every one of their players.

Interior post players Gracen Sundstrom, RylieReece Morgan, Meaghan Greaney and Sydney Head all did an outstanding job of rebounding in the second half. Sundstrom and Payden Petterson each grabbed six boards, and Greaney and Head tallied five each.

Isabelle Spitler led the scoring effort with 18 points. She did an incredible job from behind the arc, with four threes in the contest, and also went five-for-six from the stripe. Olivia Hougham scored six points and Head added three.

The Outlaws got their hands on a lot of balls for many deflections that resulted in 14 steals.

"I thought we did an excellent job executing offensively and defensively," said Coach Brittaney Niebergall-Brown. "I liked the way we competed, took care of the basketball, and played well together. It was a good win for us to start the tournament."

The following day the Outlaws took on Banks and suffered a devastating 51-18 loss. Sisters was down 19-2 at the end of the first period and at the half trailed 29-9. The Outlaws were only able to add nine points in the second half.

Sisters played a much closer game against Molalla on Saturday, and lost by just five points, 29-34.

It was a close first quarter that ended with the Outlaws down by two, 8-10. Sisters played a good second period and closed the gap to within one at the half at 18-19.

Sisters kept the game within two in the third, but just didn't have enough gas in their tanks to pull off the win.

Huber finished the game with a season-high 10 points. Sundstrom, Morgan, and Hougham each contributed four points. Morgan also had three blocks in the contest.

"I thought we played well as a collective group and gave ourselves an opportunity to win, but going into the last two minutes of the game we lacked focus and leadership" said Niebergall-Brown. "I thought we did a lot of good things. Weeks ago we would have been blown out by a team like Molalla. We have made progress, and I thought we competed better as a program throughout the weekend. Our goal is to continue to improve and compete daily, whether that be in our practices or in game situations."

The Lady Outlaws' next game will be on the road at Newport on Friday, January 4.