Lady Outlaws plagued by injuries

The girls basketball team suffered two losses on the hardwood last week.

Sisters lost 55-39 at Cottage Grove (CG) on Tuesday, January 27, and two players were taken off the court due to injuries. Three days later the Lady Outlaws lost 46-32 at Marist.

In Tuesday's game against No. 2 ranked CG, the Outlaws faced a team extremely patient on offense, very athletic and 12 players deep.

Danelle Allen sprained her ankle at the close of the second period and was unable to return to the game. Kiana Jiminez reinjured her ACL at the start of the third quarter and is expected to be out for the remainder of the season. From there, two of Sisters' post players, Nicole Meadors and Susan Ruettgers, fouled out of the game, so the Outlaws were short players inside.

Sisters kept up the battle in the second half, but were short too many key players to get the job done. Sisters did outscore the Lions 15-12 in the final period of play.

Coach Kevin Cotner said, "We had 37 turnovers. That's really the story of the game. The girls played their hearts out, but it is tough to win against arguably the best team in the state when you have 37 turnovers on the road. I am proud of the way the girls battled, though. This was not their best game, but they never gave up."

Chelsie McConville said, "I think if we could have played with more consistency and composure it would have been a closer game."

The Outlaws were 10/19 from the free throw line and the Lions were 14/19.

Marin Allen scored all of her 11 points in the second half and was 5/6 from the line in the fourth quarter. Susan Ruettgers scored eight points and Kiana Jiminez added six.

McConville said the team is still hopeful and a tight team unit.

"Everybody's holding it together and we've got a good concept of how to play as a team," said McConville. "We're still very hopeful that we'll make it to the playoffs in the post season."

Three days later the Lady Outlaws lost a tough one against Marist, another top 10 team.

Sisters stayed even with the Spartans the first quarter and at the end of the period the score was tied 7-7. The Spartans held Sisters to four points in the second period and at the half Marist had pushed to a 16-11 advantage.

The Outlaws and the Spartans both scored 13 points in the final period but the Outlaws were unable to recover from the hole they had dug in the second and third quarters of play.

Jenny Kaiser led the Outlaws with 11 points. Marin Allen scored nine points; including two threes in the fourth quarter. Susan Ruettgers added five points and four rebounds on the night. Nicole Meadors also pulled down five boards in the game.

Cotner told The Nugget that Jenny Kaiser and Susan Ruettgers did a great job shutting down the Spartans' all-league post.

"Jenny, in her first start of the year, paced us offensively with 11 points," said Cotner. "She was great for us tonight. It's nice to see her back on the court after missing 10 weeks with an injury. We had a lot of girls out with injuries tonight and the team stepped up with a short roster. McKenzie Cooper and Sammy Kaiser both saw playing time in the game. Our next game at home against Elmira is huge. We are still in fourth place in league and in the hunt for a playoff spot."

The Lady Outlaws will host Elmira on Tuesday, February 3, and travel to La Pine on Friday, February 6.