Outlaws fall at state tournament

The Outlaws battled hard at the 4A OSAA State Tournament held at Pacific University Thursday through Saturday, March 8-10, but weren't able to come out on top in either of their games.

Sisters had to match up against No. 1-seeded Banks in their first game of the tourney on Thursday afternoon. They battled the Braves hard the entire game, but just couldn't post the win. They lost the contest 46-38.

The Outlaws offense was a bit slow out of the gate, and they only managed to put four points on the scoreboard in the first quarter, while Banks posted 10. Sisters played even with Banks through the remainder of the game, and were only outscored by two points in the last three quarters, but sadly, were never able to take the lead.

Sisters was down by 12 with approximately three minutes left in the game, and the Outlaws buckled down and closed the gap to four with 1:22 to go, and again got to within four with 34 seconds left on the clock. That was a close as they would get.

Sisters held Banks, a normally high-scoring team, to just 46 points, and they out-rebounded the bigger squad 41-34. But the Outlaws struggled to score. In their previous game against Henley, they were 46 percent from the floor, and against the Braves they only shot 29 percent, and were only 2-for-16 from behind the arc. Banks outscored Sisters in the paint, 26-14.

Coach David Godfrey said, "All in all, we gave them a good game. We just came up a little short. We were behind, but kept coming back to get within a possession or two. We could have won it. We were close, but just not quite there."

Ty Horner had a big game for the Outlaws, and finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points, and tallied 12 rebounds. Zach Anderson had 10 points and nine rebounds, and Jack Berg played a solid game with seven points, four rebounds, and three assists.

With the loss, Sisters went into the consolation bracket, and on Friday morning suffered a heartbreaking 57-56 loss to La Grande.

Both teams got a quick start on offense, and at the close of the first quarter Sisters held a 21-20 lead. The Outlaws picked it up in the second, and at the half were on top by 10 with a score of 37-27.

In the second half, the Outlaws were plagued by turnovers, which allowed La Grande back in the game. With 12 seconds left in the game, Sisters still held on with a one-point advantage. La Grande had possession, and scored on a shot in the paint with two seconds left, and went up by one. Sisters got off a long three-quarter court-shot, but the shot didn't fall, and the Outlaws recorded the loss. La Grande outscored the Outlaws 30-19 in the second half.

Horner posted another double-double for the Outlaws, with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Berg scored 12 points, and grabbed five boards. Anderson put up 11 points, and had two rebounds, and Noah Richards added six points and two rebounds. Isaiah Rush and Brad Eagan combined for seven of the Outlaws 10 assists.

"It was a disappointing end to a really good season," said Godfrey. "We shot ourselves in the foot, as the expression goes. In the second half, we committed 12 of our 19 turnovers. We only stayed ahead by 11, when we could possibly have increased our lead. Instead, we kept La Grande in the game, and they took advantage of it. This game we shot the ball better than our first game against Banks, but the turnovers were our undoing.

"All in all, our season was certainly a successful one. The kids persevered through all the injuries, illnesses, and having a new coach step in after expecting to play for Coach Runco. They represented themselves and their school very well. It was a season of accomplishments: a league title, first team to the final eight since 2012, and we beat three of the five 5A teams we played. The players were a pleasure to coach. They played well together and kept getting better and better to compete at a high level. We are all very proud of them."