Outlaws have a rough week on the hardwood

The Outlaws had a rough week and dropped three straight games: a 36-43 loss at home to Newport on Tuesday, May 25, and a day later a 28-53 road loss at Philomath. They fell 34-51 at home to Cascade on Friday in a non-league contest.

On Tuesday the Outlaws held the lead over Newport until the final quarter when the Cubs hot scoring pushed them ahead and got them the win.

Sisters started off well and at the close of the first quarter held a 11-7 lead. Scoring was almost non-existent in the second period as both teams only scored three points each. At the half the Outlaws were on top14-10, and held a slim 22-19 lead at the close of the third.

The Cubs hit five threes and outscored the Outlaws 24-14 in the final period and recorded the victory.

Camden Froelich finished the night with 17 points, Nate Weber tallied 10, and Ricky Huffman added five.

Coach Rob Jensen said, “Overall, we were the aggressors defensively in the first three quarters, but couldn’t hit shots in the last quarter. We also had some turnover problems throughout the game.”

On Wednesday the Outlaws lost on the road to Philomath. The Warriors boast two 6-foot-5-inch centers and the Outlaws struggled to rebound against them in the first half.

In the first quarter one of the Warrior’s guards hit three triples and the Outlaws found themselves down 8-21 at the close of the first quarter. Sisters was outscored 11-3 in the second period and entered the half trailing 11-32.

Sisters battled hard in the third and won that quarter 12-10, but just couldn’t finish the looks they got on the offensive end.

Weber finished with 13 points, Max Palanuk scored six, and Froelich added five.

Jensen said, “We improved our shot selection and got good looks, but they just didn’t fall. Our adjustments defensively helped hold them back in the second half, but we just couldn’t finish the looks we were getting on the offensive end. The effort was solid.”

On Friday against Cascade, the Outlaws executed their game plan fairly well in the first quarter. In the second period Sisters did even better. The guys hit their shots, got stops, outplayed the Cubs, and won the quarter 14-11. Sisters was unable to sustain that effort and pace and the Cougars recorded the win.

“Defensively they hurt us on the offensive boards and they had a couple of guys that got to the basket and made it difficult,” said Jensen. “We are looking to improve on having multiple quarters that looked like that second quarter.”

Weber finished with nine points, Connor Linn scored eight, Palanuk tallied six, and Huffman added five.

The Outlaws were scheduled to play at home against Woodburn on Tuesday, June 1. They will play at home against Mountain View on Thursday in a non-league contest and finish out their week with a game at home against Stayton on Saturday.