Boys basketball takes sixth at home Holiday Tournament

The boys basketball team hosted their annual Holiday Tournament Thursday through Saturday, January 2-4. Four of the top teams in the state were present including Philomath, LaSalle, Henley and Creswell.

Philomath defeated LaSalle in the championship game and Scapoose beat Henley for a third-place finish.

Sisters suffered a 49-36 loss to Scappoose on Thursday in the first round of the tourney. Scapoose had two very good posts that were tough for the Outlaws to handle and at the half Sisters trailed 25-17. The Indians' guard pressure proved to be a problem for the Outlaws in the second half.

"We continued to battle back but just couldn't get past the hole we'd dug," said Coach Rand Runco. "Unforced turnovers were our biggest issue."

Justin Harrer scored eight points for the Outlaws and Hayden Martinez and Hayes Moore each scored seven points.

"Justin also led us in rebounding and in our defensive effort," said Runco. "Our posts, Nate Kaping and Tysen Gill, also played good defense."

The Outlaws were able to put an entire game together on Friday and defeated Baker 58-48 in their first win of the season.

Runco said, "Our senior leaders, Jens Stadeli, Lane Adams and Nate Kaping, are keeping us focused on improvement and are very good motivators for our young squad. They rallied us after our first loss and had us ready to go."

It was a good match-up, and the Outlaws did a great job defending against Baker's 6'7" post. Sisters held a 10-point lead with 3:30 left on the clock and the Bulldogs started to send them to the line.

Tristan Lewis went 7/8 from the line in the final quarter to keep the Outlaws on top. The team made 24 of their 32 attempts.

Connor Schaab posted a double-double for the Outlaws with 21 points and 17 rebounds. Harrer recorded 11 points and nine boards and Nate Kaping finished with seven rebounds and two points.

Sisters wrapped up their tournament play on Saturday with a 57-53 loss against Creswell.

"Creswell is one of the top teams in their division," said Runco. "They are a pressing team that can really play. They have two extremely talented players that can score in bunches."

Sisters started out the game playing man-to-man, then dropped into an extended zone. The Outlaws lost the Creswell shooters a few times and the Bulldogs hit their shots.

Creswell went up 19-14 to close out the first quarter but the Outlaws fought back and narrowed the gap to four with a score of 34-30 at the half.

"From then on it was a fight," said Runco. "We switched into a triangle-and-two defense and that stopped the two scorers. It was a close battle, but we just couldn't get over the hump."

Schaab had a great game with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists, followed by Hayes Moore who recorded 12. Harrer scored eight points and led the team with seven rebounds. Hayden Martinez pitched in for eight points and Ben Larson logged four assists.

"It was another nice team effort and everyone worked really hard," said Runco. "Nate (Kaping) and Tysen (Gill) did another good job keeping them off the glass. Hayden (Martinez) and Justin (Harrer) did a great job on their best offensive player, Jones, and Ben (Larson) and Hayes (Moore) also contained Jones in the second half.

"The game came down to them scoring quickly off our turnovers in the first half," added Runco. "We need to control our turnovers, and make our free throws to be successful. We've lost five close games but are improving and getting ready for league."

Justin Harrer told The Nugget that the energy the Outlaws had in their last two games is an indication of what the Outlaws can bring to the court.

"We had players that really stepped up and provided big points when we need them," said Harrer. "Coach Runco has been working us hard on transition defense and offense and we were able to execute that throughout the tournament. Getting a win this weekend was a confidence-builder for the team and we hope to build on that throughout the season."

The Outlaws will play at Gladstone on Saturday, January 11.