Girls basketball squad hosts annual tournament

The girls basketball team hosted the annual Sisters Holiday Tournament held Thursday-Saturday, December 28-30. The Lady Outlaws had a tough time, and lost all three of their games.

Sisters started the tourney with a 45-37 loss to Estacada on Thursday. The Lady Outlaws had a rough start, and quickly found themselves down 12-2, and at the close of the period trailed the Rangers 14-7. Estacada scored 10 in the second, and the Outlaws were on their heels with eight, but the first quarter deficit hurt, and Sisters trailed 24-15 at the half.

Sisters was outscored by six in the third, but did come back in the fourth to outscore the Rangers 12-8. It just wasn't enough to dig them out of the hole they'd dug themselves into in the first period.

Alexa Stewart, Gracie Sundstrom, and Kaylee Huber each scored nine points for the Outlaws, and Sydney Head and Sundstrom each grabbed six rebounds.

The Outlaws did do a much better job with turnovers. The squad averages 20-plus turnovers per game, and they cut that number to 12. Sisters only shot 30 percent from the field.

"Once we get our shooting percentage to the 40-45 percent range, and keep our turnovers down, I think we'll be very successful," said Coach Alan Von Stein. "We were down in numbers with only eight players, but the girls played hard."

On Friday, Sisters was defeated 47-19 by Molalla. The young Outlaws did have an excellent first quarter, and according to Von Stein, it was their best quarter of the season.

Sisters jumped out to a quick 6-2 advantage against the Indians, who are a bigger, stronger, and faster squad, but at the end of the quarter, Molalla had tied it up 9-9.

With only eight players, the Outlaws ran out of gas in the second quarter, and only put nine points on the scoreboard the remainder of the game.

Sundstrom, Huber, and Rheanna Salisbury scored three points each, and Olivia Hougham added two.

"They were more talented, and had a lot more people to draw from on the bench, which made the game more of a challenge as the quarters went on," said Von Stein.

"The girls are definitely making progress and getting better. They're starting to see it, and I think we'll see it as we enter conference play," added Von Stein.

On Saturday, the Lady Outlaws dropped their final game of the tournament, with a 44-29 loss to Crook County.

Sisters stayed with them the first two quarters, and entered the half tied up 16-16, but couldn't hold on and keep pace with them in the second half.

Stewart scored 10 points for the Outlaws, and Head and Huber added four points each.

"They were a much better team today than we were; very physical and deserving of the win," said Von Stein.

The Outlaws play at Redmond on Wednesday, January 3, with the game scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m.