Outlaws advance to first round of playoffs

The Outlaws basketball team continued their winning streak on Saturday, knocking off Cascade, the fourth-place team in the Oregon West League, in a big victory at home. Sisters downed the Cougars 72-43 to record their 15th straight win and push them to a 22-3 overall record.

Sisters faced the Cougars earlier in the season, December 8, in a contest that went into overtime with the Outlaws coming out on top 56-52. This time around, the Outlaws had complete control of the game.

Coach Rand Runco told The Nugget that the Outlaws' focus was to contain the Cougars' very quick guard Paul Vetrus and also their physical rebounding posts, and the squad did an outstanding job of doing just that.

Sisters jumped out to take a quick lead, and by the close of the first quarter were up 17-10. The Cougars battled and made it a much tighter second quarter. The Outlaws only outscored the Cougars by four, and at the half Sisters was up 37-26.

The floodgates opened in the third, and the Outlaws blew the game wide open. Sisters extended their lead by 21 at the end of the third and went on to beat the Cougars by 29 points.

The Outlaws' win was a total team effort, with 10 players scoring in the game. Eli Harrison led the scoring onslaught with 21 points, including four threes. Jalen Miller scored 14 points, Chase Goff put up 11, and John Erickson recorded eight. Bryan Boswell, Sebastian Boehm and Cole Moore each contributed four points and Zach Cummins, Tim Hernandez and Bryce Alderman pitched in for two points each.

Miller and Erickson led the Outlaws in assists, and Boswell, Goff and Harrison were all big on the boards. Moore, Boehm and Hernandez did a good job defending the Cougar guards, and they added key points to help the Outlaws continue to pull away for the win.

Runco had praise for several players.

"Jalen (Miller) had an excellent game," said Runco. "He contained Vetrus and attacked the Cougar defense, repeatedly taking them to the basket. Eli (Harrison) also played very good defense against Wright, a very strong player that played inside and out. Eli really got rolling in the third quarter and hit some huge shots that allowed us to take control of the game. John (Erickson) had a huge leadership role and continued to play great defense and distribute the ball to any open players."

Runco told The Nugget that he was very pleased with the team's focus and improvement in offensive execution.

"It was great to see that everyone contributed in the game and see that the intense practices of the week really paid off. Every player worked for the success of the team and pushed in practice to make each other better," said Runco.

The Outlaws will face Madras, Tri Valley League champs, at home on Saturday, March 3, in the first round of state tournament play. The winner will head to Gill Coliseum in Corvallis for the final three rounds, which will be held March 8-10.