Outlaws lose in basketball playoff

The Sisters boys basketball team lost 65-60 to the Riverside Pirates in the final minute of play in the first round of the state playoffs on Wednesday, March 1.

“It was a brutally tough game,” Coach Rand Runco said. “The gym was small with a short court and it was very loud — just like you see in the movies.”

Sisters turned the ball over 16 times in the first half, which resulted in some easy lay-ins for the Pirates.

“It was difficult to get easy transitions because of the length of their court and they did a good job of getting back into their zone,” said Runco.

The Outlaws played catch-up the entire game.

“We trailed the whole game, but had faith in our system,” said Runco. “It felt like it took a long time to fatigue their team because of their short court. But we held onto our game plan, trusted in our system and held onto our timeouts waiting for the fourth quarter. And it worked, even with our turnovers and extremely poor shoooting. We caught them with 58 seconds to go in the game.”

Sisters went up 60-58 with 58 seconds left in the final period. Runco called for a timeout when Riverside put the press on the Outlaws but the crowd noise was so deafening that neither the officials or players heard him. The Pirates stole the ball and scored to tie the game 60-60.

The Outlaws took possession of the ball and Runco again called for a timeout. Again, the call wasn’t heard, Riverside stole the ball and scored two more points to take a 62-60 lead.

At that point Sisters was forced to foul. The Pirates made their shots at the line and the game ended in a heartbreaking 65-60 loss for the Outlaws.

“The gym was so loud we couldn’t hear a thing,” said Runco. “The shift changes that we’ve used with our players throughout the year allowed us to communicate with our players but communication on the court was next to impossible. During time outs and between quarters we had to use the white board to communicate because my guys couldn’t hear me above the noise of the crowd.”

Carter Davenport led the Outlaws with 16 points. Jeff Fitter contributed 15 points and Guy Mount had 12.

Runco told The Nugget that Brian Knotts did a tremendous job as usual on the boards.

“We battled as a team against the odds on their court and I’m proud of my boys and their efforts,” said Runco. “They believed in themselves, in me and in the team and they stuck together. They are tough kids and good people and I’m really going to miss them.

“What’s really special about this group is that they were a true team who lived up to our motto, ‘One team, one mind.’ My biggest loss will be in not seeing them after school every day.”