Girls hoops edged out by Highlanders

The Lady Outlaws played on the road against the Burns Highlanders in their first game of the season on Wednesday, November 30. It was a close battle, but in the end Sisters came up short in a final score of 49-44.

Sisters started off a bit slow, but then Ila Reid had a couple of nice drives to the basket for points. Maggie Lutz also scored on a nice give-and-go on a Shae Wyland assist, and also hit a shot from behind the arc. At the close of the period the Outlaws were up by one, 9-8.

The Outlaws were only able to put five points on the scoreboard in the second quarter. They were getting good looks at the basket but the shots wouldn’t fall. Burns outscored the Outlaws 12-5 and at the half Sisters trailed 14-20.

Jenna Lake closed the gap for the Outlaws in the third period when she found her range from beyond the three-point arc and hit four long balls in a row. That, combined with two buckets from freshman Paityn Cotner surged the Outlaws ahead as teams headed into the final quarter.

In the fourth, Maggie Lutz hyperextended her elbow as she wrestled for a loose ball, and had to leave the game. Coach Paul Patton told The Nugget that the loss affected the Outlaws on the defensive end, as Lutz is their best on-ball defender.

Highlander point guard Bailey Temple took advantage of the Outlaws’ loss and scored 11 of her team-leading 16 points in the final period.

Reid played a great final quarter and did her best to keep the Outlaws in the game and scored 11 of her team-high 17 points. Unfortunately, Sisters was unable to catch the Highlanders and lost the contest.

Lake finished the game with 12 points, Lutz scored five, and Cotner added four.

Patton told The Nugget that Wyland played an outstanding game as a rebounder and shot blocker, and added that Jorja Christianson played well at point guard for much of the game.

Patton made note of several of his players.

“We had two freshmen, Audrey Corcoran and Paityn Cotner, get significant minutes and make positive contributions,” said Patton. “Audrey played point for us and was effective at putting pressure on the defense with her ability to push the ball up the court and drive to the basket. Paityn is going to be called on to step it up as our on-ball defender until we get Maggie back.”

“Holly Madron also played a key role for us getting in the game a couple times to help us take care of the ball and play good team defense,” said Patton. “The same is true of Emma Sahlberg and Dax Martinez. Norah Thorsett also saw some time for us in the varsity game after already playing four quarters as the JV point guard.”

Of the game Patton said, “I was really pleased with the competitive effort of the team and their ability to stay in the moment regardless of what just happened or what might happen. I also appreciated that after the game the girls recognized how good we had done at a lot of things and were satisfied with our effort, even though the score wasn’t in our favor. We are really close to being a tough team to beat and with a few improvements on some simple things I think we will be.”

The Lady Outlaws were to play at home against Riverdale on Friday, December 1, and then on Saturday against Jefferson, but games were canceled due to inclement weather on the pass. The game against Jefferson has currently been rescheduled for Monday, December 4, and the Riverdale game may be rescheduled in January.

Sisters will travel to Culver on Thursday, December 7, and will wrap up their week with a home game against Yamhill-Carlton on Saturday, December 9.