Outlaws beat Cottage Grove, fall to Marist

Sisters stuck to their game plan to notch a 54-41 victory against Cottage Grove (CG) at home on Tuesday, January 26. On Friday, Sisters lost 45-41 in a heartbreaking loss to Marist, ranked No. 6 in the state.

In Tuesday's game, Cottage Grove ran a dribble-drive offense that is extremely hard to defend, but the Outlaws' tremendous effort resulted in a big win.

"The Lions have great penetration and have a very athletic post that is hard to defend if you help at all on the drive," said Coach Rand Runco. "They hit eight to 10 three-pointers per game and average one of the highest scoring offenses in the state."

Sisters knew they would have to execute offensively, and their plan was to play tight defense on the Lions' three-point shooters and their post. The Outlaws planned to make the Lions' drivers win it by going to the hole.

"We knew Shepard, their point guard, was going to have a big game because we were not going to help out on the drive," stated Runco. "This forced them to play a one-on-one game."

Sisters held an 8-5 advantage at the end of the first period. John Erickson opened the second quarter with a three, and after Cottage Grove scored one bucket Sisters went on a 10-point run. At the half Sisters had pushed to a 23-16 advantage.

The Outlaws outscored CG 19-10 in the third to go up by 16 at 42-26 and held on in the fourth to secure the victory.

The Outlaws shut down the Lions' three-point shots and only gave up two threes the entire game. Sisters also held the Lions' big post to just six points. Sisters hit five threes in the game, two from Erickson and one each from Rodney Warner, Jordan Hodges and Jalen Miller.

Sisters' defense, and the fact that they controlled the tempo and kept the game in control, was key to the win.

John Erickson had an outstanding performance and not only played great defense but contributed 23 points on offense.

Drew Harrison did a great job defending the Lions' post, and Rodney Warner and Jordan Hodges shut down the Lions best shooting guard.

Aaron Simundson, Randy Ketchum and Eli Harrison contributed key minutes off the bench and, according to Runco, played great defense.

Jalen Miller scored eight points and dished out five assists. Miller also set a school record, hitting 22 consecutive free throws. Miller did miss early in the game, but beat Matt Everson's 1999 record of hitting 18 consecutive free throws.

Three days later, Sisters lost by two at home to the Marist Spartans.

Sisters' goals for the game were to focus on breaking the Spartan press, keep turnovers down, rebound the ball and stop the Spartans transition. Runco told The Nugget he felt his team did a great job with those goals.

John Erickson hit Sisters' first six points in the game and nine of the Outlaws 11 first-quarter points. The Outlaws trailed by two at the close of the first, at 13-11. At the half the Spartans had extended their lead to six, with a score of 24-18.

At the close of the third, the Outlaws were down by seven, 33-26. Sisters battled back in the final period, and with 43 seconds left on the clock, Jordan Hodges drilled a three-point shot to tie the game 41-41, which brought the crowd to their feet.

At the four-second mark, the Spartans' Mitch Wilson got open in the paint and used his quickness to score a lay-in and put Marist up by two. Sisters tried a last-second full-court play that was tipped out of bounds. The Outlaws fouled trying to steal the ball, and Marist drained both of their shots at the line to secure the win.

Drew Harrison scored seven points for the Outlaws and also dished out seven assists. Jalen Miller scored five for the Outlaws and Rodney Warner added four.

Sisters was to travel to top-ranked Elmira on Tuesday, February 2, and host La Pine on Friday, February 5. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.