Outlaws face stiff competition at Les Schwab Invitational

The Outlaws matched up against tough competition at the Les Schwab Invitational basketball tournament held at Marshfield High School Thursday through Saturday, December 19-21, and dropped all three of their games.

Sisters’ first match up was against Marshfield, and the Outlaws battled hard the first half of the contest against the Pirates. Nate Weber led the team in scoring with his aggressive play to the hoop, and converted 10 first-half points. At the half, Sisters trailed Marshfield 18-30.

Strong rebounding from senior Joe Scholl, along with a balanced offensive effort, pulled the Outlaws to within eight at the close of the third quarter with a score of 32-40. Sisters had a hard time finding their offensive rhythm in the final quarter, and that, combined with several turnovers led to the 38-59 loss.

Weber led the Outlaws scoring effort with 14 points and Sam Nicklous and Scholl each had eight points in the game.

Coaches told The Nugget that the Marshfield Pirates were long and quick, and really made the Outlaws struggle on the offensive end as the game wore on, but they were happy that they stayed close the first three quarters.

On Friday, Sisters faced a talented LaSalle squad and struggled to execute their offense. The Outlaws were unable to score in double digits in all four quarters, and fell 25-49 to the Falcons.

The Outlaws stayed close in the first quarter, which ended 9-11, and scoring was balanced across the boards. In the second quarter, the Falcons increased pressure and took the Outlaws out of their offensive rhythm, which left them down by 22, with a score of 11-33.

Sisters stayed even the rest of the game, but just could not cut down on the deficit they’d accrued in the first half. In the final period, the Outlaws bench energy was strong and Hayden (Sharp), Ricky (Huffman), Jamen (Schwartz), Adam (Maddox-Castle), and Max (Palanuk) provided great minutes.

In their final game of the tourney Sisters battled in a close contest against the North Valley Knights. Strong perimeter shooting and aggressive play at the hoop had the Outlaws within striking distance all four quarters.

At the half, Sisters trailed 17-25. The Outlaws rallied in the third to close the gap to 31-35 at the end of the period.

Sisters narrowed the lead to five with four minutes left on the clock. The Outlaws fouled in hopes the Knights would miss and they could convert on the other end. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. North Valley hit clutch free throws, and were intense on the defesive end, which made it hard for the Outlaws to score. The Knights posted the 54-38 win.

Weber led the way for the Outlaws with 21 points, including a trio of three-balls, and he went a perfect six-for-six from the stripe. Nicklous added nine points.

“We learned a lot this weekend and despite the scores there was a lot of growth,” said Coach Rob Jensen. “We will continue to improve and the kids have a great attitude about the game. We are looking forward to working hard at practice to make some little things automatic. Most of the errors we made were mental and can be corrected by doing some little things.”

Sisters will host Junction City next week in their first game of the Sisters Holiday Tournament, which will be Friday through Sunday, December 27 to 29, and hope to improve their 2-5 record.