Lady Outlaws open season with tough losses

In basketball action, the Lady Outlaws lost to the two top teams in the state in their season openers — a 54-28 loss at home against Burns on Tuesday, November 30, and two days later a 48-18 loss at Riverdale.

Burns was a tough matchup on Tuesday. The Hilanders are traditionally a good basketball team, and last year finished second at state. They came out strong in the first quarter and scored 12 points, and held the Outlaws scoreless for the first five-and-a-half minutes of the period. Finally, Jenna Lake hit a long ball and got Sisters on the board. At the close of the quarter the Outlaws trailed 8-17.

The game continued in much the same fashion, and Burns continued to attack the basket and extend their lead. Sisters did have a few opportunities to score but had trouble getting inside the Hilanders’ two-three defense.

Burns outscored the Outlaws 24-15 in the second half and recorded the win.

Sisters was missing two of their key players, juniors Ila Reid and Maggie Lutz, who were both out with injuries.

Coach Paul Patton said, “We need to continue to work on improving our shooting. We went 3-for-18 on two- pointers, 5-for-24 from the three-point range, and 5-for-18 from the free-throw line. Taking care of the basketball will also be an area we will focus on after having 22 turnovers on 73 possessions.

“The good news is that 11 girls saw action in the game and will be better for the experience,” Patton said. “We’re trying to implement a fast-paced offense and need more time to build the habit of sprinting the court. By the time we get to our league schedule I expect us to be a pretty formidable basketball team.”

Patton told The Nugget he expects the Lady Outlaws to make quick improvements on defense, and he stated that with a little fine-tuning the team should be able to make it harder for their opponents to score.

Lake led the Outlaws with 15 points. Josie Patton tallied four points and Savannah Davisson and Shae Wyland added three points each.

The Outlaws were crushed by Riverdale, a team in the Coastal Range League and defending league champs the past two years. Sisters was once again missing players, with Haleigh Froelich added to the list.

Sisters had a decent first quarter and trailed by eight, 10-18, at the close of the period. From there they struggled to get good looks at the basket, and when they did have opportunity couldn’t make their shots. The Outlaws only scored two points in the second quarter and trailed 12-30 at the half.

Riverdale pulled further ahead in the second half and recorded the win.

Lake scored six points for the Outlaws, Patton recorded five, and Hadley Schar added four. Patton pulled down eight boards and Shae Wyland had six.

The Outlaws went 0-13 on three-point attempts and had 24 turnovers in the contest

Patton noted Hadley Schar, who he said gave her all in the demanding point guard position, and also Patton, who was active on defense and on the boards. He added that Ashlynn Moffat didn’t show up big on the state sheet, but was a solid contributor on the intangibles of hustle and positive attitude.

Patton said, “We did better this game than last in getting some two-point baskets, but just couldn’t get a three-pointer to drop. We just need to continue to get reps in practice on competitive decision-making. We will continue to spend time shooting each day and focus on tightening up our defense. If we can get healthy and get some full participation practices in the next few days we’ll make some huge strides on our teamwork. We’re hoping our games in the coming weeks against more modest opponents will give us a chance to find some success that we can build on.”

Sisters was to play on the road against Jefferson on Tuesday, December 6. They will play at home against Culver on Thursday, December 8. On Saturday they will travel to Santiam Christian for a one-day tournament and face Monroe in their first game of the tourney.