Lady Outlaws go pink in support of cancer awareness

The girls basketball team tallied a 62-53 win at home against Elmira on Wednesday, February 16, but two days later suffered a heartbreaking loss at La Pine. The contest went into overtime and the Outlaws lost by just one point, 48-47.

Sisters sported pink-and-white uniforms in their game against Elmira on Wednesday, in an effort to raise cancer awareness at Sisters High School.

Coach Julianne Horner heard that Coach Mark Elmblade from Harrisburg High School had bought pink-and-white basketball uniforms in the hope that other coaches would borrow them for a school cancer awareness game. The Lady Outlaws' only agreement with Elmblade was that they would do some sort of fundraiser.

Many groups worked together to raise money which will go toward cancer screening at St. Charles Medical Center. A team of leadership students, led by Marcus Arends, devoted countless hours to make the event a huge success.

Metabolic Maintenance, Therapeutic Associates of Sisters and the $12.99 Store donated the cost to cover T-shirts that promoted the event. The girls and boys basketball teams each donated $100, cupcake sales raised $100, and the Student Store donated 10 percent of their sales the night of the game. At halftime a pink-and-white basketball and a pink quilt were raffled off and brought in another $140. At the close of the evening $1,040 had been raised.

It was an exciting and action-packed game against the Falcons. Taylor Nieri hit key baskets for the Outlaws early in the first quarter, and then Chelsie McConville and Katie Yozamp made incredible shots at the end of the quarter to help boost the Outlaws to a 19-16 lead. With under a minute left in the quarter, McConville drove inside put up a beautiful left-handed layup. At the buzzer, Yozamp took a pass right under the basket and put it in for two.

The Outlaws carried that momentum into the second quarter. McConville scored Sisters' last six points of the period and pushed the Outlaws to a 32-28 advantage at the half.

Midway through the third quarter, Marin Allen got the 'pit' on their feet when she hit nothing but net on a deep three-point shot and then turned right around with a steal at midcourt that she converted into a bucket. With under two minutes left in the third quarter, Elmira hit back-to-back threes to narrow the lead, but Sisters held on for a 47-41 lead to close out the period.

Sisters owned the fourth quarter and limited the Falcons to six points. A great pass from Elise Herron to Allen gave the Outlaws their final bucket of the game. Sisters beat the Falcons by nine points and put another win in the scorebook.

Senior Marin Allen said, "We didn't play as strong as we should have. We didn't do the little things, like staying in a defensive stance or taking the right shot. But, two of our important players fouled out (McConville and Kernutt) and we were able to stay calm and pull out the win."

Taylor Nieri led the offense with 19 points. McConville put up 12 points and Marin Allen recorded 10. Sammy Kaiser contributed six points, Herron scored four, and Yozamp and Carissa Kernutt each added three.

Horner told The Nugget it was a great win for the team.

"I am very proud of the fact we had a team effort for this win," said Horner. "The girls again played smart basketball and kept their composure in a tight game. The guards did a great job shooting and the posts worked hard for rebounds and blockouts to keep Elmira from getting many second attempts at their shots."

The Outlaws hit 19 of their 25 attempts at the line.

Two days later Sisters was defeated by the Hawks at La Pine in their final league game of the season.

The Lady Outlaws fought sickness all week, which definitely affected the team's performance. Katie Yozamp, who was suffering a severe case of bronchitis, was not able to play, and many other players were not at 100 percent.

At the close of the first quarter Sisters held a slim two-point lead at 15-13. At the half, La Pine had pulled ahead by one, 23-22. The Hawks were on fire in the third quarter and outscored the Outlaws 20-11 and pushed to a 43-33 advantage. Sisters buckled down in the fourth quarter, put 11 points on the scoreboard and limited the Hawks to one point and tied the game at 44-44 to close out regulation play.

La Pine scored four points in overtime and Sisters only managed to get three, which resulted in a heartbreaking loss.

The physical play took its toll on the Outlaws, and several had to come out of the game to get bandaged up. Chelsie McConville came out of the game with a cut to her eye, Taylor Nieri had to come out because of blood on her lip and face and at one point Marin Allen was thrown to the ground.

The Outlaws wrapped up league with a 7-3 record and are very happy with their second-place finish. Sisters will host Philomath either Friday, February 25, or Saturday, February 26.