Boys hoops takes third at Seaside

The boys basketball team had a great time at the Seaside Invitational, held Thursday through Saturday, December 17-19. The Outlaws walked away with a third-place finish. Seaside finished first, and Astoria was runner-up.

Sisters came out strong and defeated Castle Rock (CR) 45-38 to put them on the winners' side of the bracket. It was a very good win for the Outlaws, who handed CR their first loss of the season.

The Outlaws held CR to three points in the first quarter of play, and finished the period with an 11-3 advantage, thanks to an outstanding defensive effort. Sisters struggled in the second quarter, but held on to enter the half with a three-point lead.

Sisters pulled ahead in the third, with Keegan Greaney and Tyler Head contributing most of the offense. Keegan did a terrific job defending Brock Johnson, an outstanding offensive player for CR.

"Keegan is an incredible defender, and is really doing a great job for the team," said Coach Rand Runco.

The final quarter got a little wild due to foul trouble. Johnson came at the Outlaws hard and got to the line, but Sisters answered back and held off several runs in the period.

Greaney scored six of his 12 points in the fourth quarter. Ben Saba went six-for-six from the line to hold the lead and seal the win.

Head scored 10 points and had five rebounds on the night. Scott Waddell added seven points and five boards. Connor Lake gave the Outlaws good minutes off the bench, and Steen Johnson and Hayes Moore played great defense, and led the team on both ends of the court.

In their second game of the tourney, the Outlaws suffered a tough 51-32 loss to Seaside. The Outlaws had a good start in the first and held an 11-6 lead to close out the quarter, but then got into foul trouble, which affected them offensively.

Runco noted that a bright spot in the contest was when Steen Johnson stepped up and played multiple positions while the team was in foul trouble.

Johnson finished the game with 10 points and Waddell recorded eight.

"Seaside is a very good team, with one of the best point guards in the state," said Runco. "They are averaging 75 points per game, and we did a nice job defensively against them. It was a tough game, and we do not feel we played our best - but we learned a lot."

The Outlaws played hard, but just weren't able to play their game. They committed 24 turnovers, compared to Seaside's eight, and were also out-rebounded. Seaside had 27 free-throw attempts to the Outlaws 10.

Sisters bounced back and wrapped up the tourney with a 56-36 victory over Newport, which resulted in a third-place finish.

The Outlaws had a slow start and were down 12-7 at the end of the first quarter, but then took control. Sisters outscored the Cubs 43-24, and locked them up defensively in the final three quarters.

Saba had two big threes in the second quarter, and he and Jake Larson really upped their defense when the Outlaws started to pull ahead and get their transition game going.

Moore had an impressive second-half performance. Hayes scored 12 of his 13 points in the second half, and also dished out multiple assists. Johnson tallied 12 points, and Greaney added nine.

Head, Waddell, and Lake all did a nice job on the glass.

"Good teams bounce back, and it was important we rallied and fought back after our tough loss the night before," said Runco. "We had better execution offensively, and steadfast defense got us a lead and we continued to extend it."

Runco told The Nugget he was also impressed with the energy and enthusiasm that the young players that came off the bench gave throughout the tournament. J.W. Bertagna, Taylor Scholl, and Jack Berg all did a great job.

"This was a really good tournament for the Outlaws," said Runco. "We have a new team this year, and we are starting to come together. The holiday tournaments are times when we get to play a lot of games, and really see how we are coming together. Overall, our defense was solid, and offensively we moved forward. Each game had different standout players. It was a good team

showing."

The Outlaws will host their annual Holiday Tournament Monday through Wednesday, December 28-30.