Lady Outlaws tether Stayton Eagles

The Lady Outlaws kept their composure to win 43-41 in a very tight basketball contest against Stayton on Tuesday, February 15.

Sisters held a slim lead the entire first half but the Lady Eagles came back to outscore the Outlaws in the thirdperiod.

With just three minutes to go, Stayton took a six-point lead. The Lady Outlaws kept their cool and aggressively went to the basket, forcing the Eagles to foul.

With one minute left on the clock Sisters was down by two.

Katie Hughes stole an Eagles inbounds pass and dished the ball to Elyss Clasen for a layup. Clasen drew the foul on the shot and made the free throw with 30 seconds remaining in the period to give Sisters a one point lead at 42-41.

Stayton missed their shot on their next possession. MacKinzie McClain was there to grab the rebound and took a foul. McClain made one of her two attempts at the line and Sisters won the game by two.

Jenny Boswell led the Outlaws with a game high 14 points. Boswell also had eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Coach Bill Blevins said, “Jenny (Boswell) had a great game considering she played with a nagging injury the entire time.”

McClain finished the game with nine points, eight of them in the fourth quarter. MacKinzie pulled down five rebounds and was 6-8 from the foul line.

“MacKinzie made some very clutch free throws for us down the stretch,” said Blevins.

Katie Hughes contributed eight points and was 2-2 from the three point line. Both Elyss Clasen and Cindy Harp added six rebounds for the Outlaws.

“The biggest thing for us was the composure we showed both offensively and defensively, especially so late in the game,” said Blevins. “We showed patience and ran our offense very well.”

Three days later the Outlaws fell 54-38 to top ranked Cascade.

“We showed a huge improvement from our last encounter with them,” said Coach Bill Blevins. “Last time the game was over at the end of the first quarter when they had the lead 20-4. This time the first quarter ended with us down just 15-9.”

The Outlaws cut down their turnovers this time around and showed a lot of composure in breaking the Cougar press.

Kristi VanBlaricum led the Outlaws with 11 points. MacKinzie McClain added nine points and Jenny Boswell had seven points and seven rebounds.

The Lady Outlaws finished Conference play tied with Stayton for third place. The playoff tiebreaker will be held at Sweet Home on Tuesday, February 22.