The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Sisters fell 52-55 to Burns at home on Friday, December 21, in a very tough matchup.

Burns hit some early shots from behind the arc, and the Outlaws just kept playing catch-up. Sisters found themselves down 16-10 at the close of the first quarter, but battled hard to close the gap to three, 27-30, at the half.

Burns boasts a very good point guard, Caja, who is extremely quick and hard to contain, and he posed a problem for the Outlaws.

Coach Rand Runco said, "Burns shot very well from the three, and their point guard continually penetrated and kept us off balance. It was a test of discipline as we had to stay home on the threes and still try to contain him. It felt like we were chasing them the entire game."

The third quarter was tight. The Outlaws were only outscored by two points, and at the close of the period trailed by five, 40-45.

Sisters never gave up, but kept battling and made several runs at the Highlanders. However, each time the Outlaws got close, they had an unforced turnover or were called for a charging foul, which allowed Burns to extend their lead to a five-to-seven-point advantage.

In the Outlaws' final run, they cut the Highlanders' lead to one point with approximately 25 seconds left on the clock. Sisters was forced to foul and sent Burns' best shooter to the line. He hit both shots, and the Outlaws took possession, but turned the ball over, and again were forced to foul. Burns missed their shot, but got the rebound. Sisters was able to steal the ball, and had a final transition but just couldn't get the shot off, and had to record the loss.

Sisters' leading scorer was Ryan Waddell, who finished the night with 14 points, going seven-for-seven from the line. Zach Anderson and Noah Richards contributed 10 points each. Waddell and Anderson led the team in rebounds.

Coach Runco said, "It was really frustrating. We missed lay-ins and just made too many mistakes to make that final run. In the last three losses we have had too many unforced turnovers. We are improving, but have been shooting ourselves in the foot each time we make a run. We need to get things back on track quickly. We need to cut our turnovers and improve our ability to stop penetration."

The Outlaws will host their annual Holiday Tournament, Thursday through Saturday, December 27-29, and will open tournament play with a game against Estacada on Thursday.