Basketball teams fall to league foes

The boys and girls basketball squads have struggled on the hardwood all season against their league foes, and both squads have yet to post a conference win.

The varsity boys squad dropped their road game at Woodburn on Tuesday, February 11, in a final score of 26-55, and at home on Friday they fell 18-40 to top-ranked Philomath.

In Tuesday’s contest, Woodburn shot the ball well and pressured the Outlaws hard to go up 21-8 at the close of the first period. Sisters played fairly even with the Bulldogs the remainder of the game, but the first quarter deficit was too big to overcome.

“Turnovers cost us, and we had a hard time scoring against the intense pressure that Woodburn created,” said Coach Rob Jensen.

Nate Weber finished with a team-high nine points, Sam Nicklous scored six, Brogan Petterson contributed five, and Max Palanuk added four.

Three days later the Outlaws celebrated their three seniors, Sam Nicklous, Brogan Petterson, Joe Scholl, and Garrett Kersavage.

“These boys have played with heart and grit all season, and continued to improve throughout,” said Jensen. “They are committed and show up every day ready to get better. They are such a good group to stick with it and keep their heads high even when things are tough.”

Sisters played a good first half against the top-ranked Warriors. Nicklous and Weber both played very well in the second quarter, and Sam had an impressive four-point play that sent the Outlaws into the half with some momentum. The Outlaws outscored the Warriors 11-9 in the second period, and at the half trailed by just four points, 15-19.

Philomath upped their defensive pressure in the second half and the Outlaws had a hard time breaking their trapping defense. Sisters was outscored 1-16 in the third and 2-8 in the fourth.

Nicklous and Weber both finished the game with seven points each, and Scholl added four.

“Our defense did a really good job holding them to 40 points, but we just couldn’t buy a bucket in the second half,” said Jensen.

Sisters was to play at Stayton on Tuesday, February 18. They will wrap up league play at Sweet Home on Friday.