Outlaws take first in holiday tourney

The boys basketball team won all three of their games to claim first place at the Sisters Holiday Tournament held December 27-29. Junction City, La Pine, Burns, LaSalle, Tillamook and Mohawk also participated in the annual event.

The Outlaws defeated Burns 69-50 in Sisters first game of the tournament. Team effort was the key to the Outlaws victory. It was a close game until the fourth quarter when Sisters was finally able to pull away and secure the win.

"It looked like a game right after a vacation," said Coach Rand Runco. "We played a great defensive game the first half but then got sloppy in the second half, but I was pleased with the fact that I thought the guys shared the ball well. We knew the only way to get into the finals in the tournament was to win the first game and so we focused on that."

Jarred Hasskamp led the Outlaws with 22 points. Nate Jackson contributed 15 points and Daniel Ketchum added 12.

On Friday, Sisters had a near perfect performance and defeated Mohawk 81-55.

The great defensive effort coupled with excellent rebounding and great transition resulted in the Outlaws' win.

Sisters jumped out to a quick start and at the end of the first quarter held an 18-point advantage over Mohawk at 29-11. The Outlaws continued to control the pace of the game and at the half were up 45-23. Sisters continued to pull away in the second half and ended up beating Mohawk by 26 points.

Ketchum led the Outlaws offense with 26 points and Jackson added 15.

Rebounds, assists and steals were scattered throughout the entire team.

Sisters wrapped up tournament play on Saturday with their 57-46 win over Junction City in the championship game.

Junction City was ranked No. 1 in the preseason and is a very well rounded team. The Tigers play six to seven players and force their opponents to play half court.

"Junction City doesn't make mistakes, and they have two excellent point guards that really play together," said Runco. "They play excellent defense, spread the court and prey on the other team's mistakes. Playing JC is about which team makes the fewest mistakes."

The Outlaws were up to the challenge and played hard nose defense against the Tigers. Runco told The Nugget that the thing that pleased him most was that his team played very smart. The Outlaws did a superb job defensively, and Runco stated that he knew if the Outlaws could play good enough defense the offense would eventually come along.

"We knew we would need mental toughness and discipline defensively to win the game, and we did it. It was a total team effort," said Runco.

Sisters forced the Tigers into committing 15 turnovers, and that was the key to the game.

It was a very close game with momentum swinging back and forth between teams until the fourth quarter of the contest when Sisters went up by eight with four minutes left in the quarter. Hasskamp caught fire in the fourth quarter by draining three three-poiners to extend Sisters' lead and secure the win.

Hasskamp led the Outlaws with 23 points, including six three-pointers in the game. Jackson finished with nine points and seven rebounds, and Tyler Miller contributed nine points and six rebounds.

After the game Runco had some praise for three of his players.

"Drew (Harrison), Tyler (Miller) and Mike (Reeves) did an outstanding job defensively. They're great team players. The key for us in getting wins is being unselfish and continuing to improve."

Sisters will travel to La Pine on Tuesday, January 8. Game time is set for 7 p.m.