Huskies, Panthers bite Outlaws hoopsters

The Sisters Outlaws took a 20-point drubbing from the North Marion Huskies on Friday, February 11. The Huskies drubbed the Outlaws 80-60.

The North Marion loss followed a February 8 a thumping from Capital Conference foe the Central Panthers.

There were few bright spots in that 58-71 defeat. Evan Owens was Sisters' high scorer with 25 points.

The Outlaws shot 85 percent from the free throw line and 23 of 46 from the field. Sisters was out rebounded by the Panthers 13-16.

J.R. Ramirez led Central with 14 points and Joey Hinojosa sank 13. The Panthers' big man in the middle, Wes Powers, scored 11 points and had three rebounds.

Coach Rand Runco tried a new five-out offense in the game, in an attempt to spread Central's defense across the floor.

The Outlaws were fast and versatile, but Sisters lost the power match-up in the middle against Central's big men Wes Powers (6-feet-4-inches) and the six-foot-five-inch Jeff Charlston.

"Our defense against Powers was excellent," Runco said. "But our transition defense must improve."

The Outlaws' shaky transition from offense to defense allowed Ramirez room to roam and gave Hinojosa an open lane to shoot from.

Against North Marion, Sisters was playing with out the assistance of junior guard Kyle Kinney and senior post Brendon McNulty.

The Outlaws came out of the locker room tentative. The Outlaws could not stop the Huskies' offense and were having trouble penetrating to the basket when they had the ball.

"This just adds to our string of bad luck," Coach Runco said. "We just couldn't go."

Ony Schneibel was the Outlaws leading scorer with 14 points. Dusty Macauley had 13 and Mike Greene scored 11. The Outlaws shot 83 percent from the free throw line and were a measly 18-48 from the field.

The Huskies' Mike Casto led all scorers with 21 points. The Huskies were weak from the charity stripe, shooting only 48 percent on free throws.

It's been a rough season, but with two weeks to go, Coach Runco is keeping his spirits up.

"We didn't reach our goals, so we are going to readjust our sights and strive for that. We need to play with pride these final weeks and show confidence in our play," he said.