Lady Outlaws lose in the first round

The Lady Outlaws’ season ended sooner than they’d hoped when they lost 63-48 to Wilsonville in the first round of the state playoffs on Tuesday, February 28.

Sisters was outscored 22-11 in the first quarter. The Outlaws cut the Wildcats’ lead to four a couple of times in the first half but couldn’t hang on. At the half Sisters was down 34-25.

“They (Wilsonville) were very fast,” said Coach Bill Blevins. “And when they went to their bench they were still fast. Our quickness has been our strength all year long but it wasn’t an advantage for us this game because they were faster than us. They did a good job of breaking our press and we had trouble adjusting.”

The Wildcats used a two- to three-minute span in the third quarter to forge ahead of the Outlaws by 20 points. At the end of the third period Sisters was down 52-32.

“They got fast break after fast break on us and beat us down the court,” said Blevins.

The deficit was too much to overcome and Sisters lost the game by 15 points, 63-48.

Katie Hughes led the Outlaws with 14 points, which included three three-pointers. Jenny Boswell had 13 points and six boards and Emily VanBlaricum contributed 10 points and nine rebounds. Cindy Harp added six points and seven rebounds.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed with our early exit,” said Blevins. “We had higher expectations, but that doesn’t take away from what this group of girls have accomplished and how they’ve taken this program to a higher level.”

Blevins had words of praise for his six senior players.

“They were a wonderful group of girls to be around. They worked hard and did everything I ever asked of them and more. They put in a tremendous amount of time in the off season and I couldn’t ask anything more of them.”