Girls basketball packs three games into a week

The girls basketball squad had a busy week, which started with a 22-51 loss at home against Jefferson on Monday, December 4. Three days later they posted a big 65-30 win at Culver and wrapped up their week with a 44-58 loss at home on Saturday against Yamhill-Carlton.

Monday’s contest against Jefferson was a game that was rescheduled from the previous week due to inclement weather. It was a tough battle for the Outlaws, and they suffered a hard loss.

Ila Reid made all of the Outlaws’ six first-quarter points, but it wasn’t enough and at the end of the period Sisters was down 6-14. Sisters continued to struggle to get points on the board and trailed by 17 at the half. Lake hit a three-pointer for Sisters’ only points in the third quarter, and the buzzer finally sounded to bring the agony to an end.

Coach Paul Patton said, “Our team struggled to get shots, but that will come once we develop the habits of playing faster in transition and moving the ball quicker in our half-court offensive. Defensively, we had a few lapses in sticking with our game plan and we will be spending more time in practice on being more disruptive. We also want to see improved effort when it comes to rebounding. Still, I’m very optimistic about the potential of this group, and I’m confident we’ll work out these early season kinks and become a competitive squad.”

In Thursday’s road game at Culver the Outlaws got off to a sloppy start. Coach Patton told The Nugget that the defense was soft, they lost the rebound battle, took questionable shots, and settled for quick threes against Culver’s zone defense.

Despite the slow start, the Outlaws turned it around, got points on the scoreboard, and held a 12-9 lead at the close of the period. Sisters tightened their defense in the second quarter, held the Lady Bulldogs to just five points, and at the half were on top 25-14.

Patton said, “At halftime we talked about playing defense with more courage, more pressure on the ball, and looking to steal passes off the ball.”

The Outlaws were able to do just that as Audrey Corcoran and Shae Wyland both got a couple of breakaway lay-ins at the start of the third, and Sisters was able to outscore the Bulldogs 20-6.

In the final period Sisters kept up the pace, put up 20 additional points, and held Culver to 10. The Bulldogs’ top player, Dania Correa, scored 24 of the Bulldogs’ 30 total points.

Sisters only had eight players who were able to attend the game and all eight got significant minutes on the court. Freshman Corcoran stood out in her first start as point guard and led the team in both scoring (16) and steals (6). 

Reid was a consistent scoring threat and finished with a double double, 12 points and 10 rebounds. Wyland played tough defense, was consistent in finishing her lay-ins, and tallied 15 points for the Outlaws. Jenna Lake had 10 rebounds,  scored six points, and had six assists. Paityn Cotner also scored six points in the contest, and Jorja Christianson and Norah Thorsett added four points each.

On Saturday against Yamhill-Carlton (YC) the game started off fairly even, and Holly Davis’ shot from behind the arc brought the Outlaws to within one at 5-6. From there things went downhill for Sisters as the Tigers put on a full court press, went on an eight-point run, and closed out the period with a nine point lead.

Sisters struggled with the press in the second quarter, turned the ball over numerous times, and the Tigers capitalized with easy buckets in transition. Norah Thorsett’s long ball, a two-pointer from Corcoran, and a free-throw from Reid were all the points the Outlaws’ offense could muster and at the half they trailed 13-32.

Patton told The Nugget that at halftime he told his team they needed to calm down and make the easiest passes that they could. 

“That proved to be more effective and once we broke the press we were able to score against their half-court defense,” said Patton.

Sisters scored the first six points of the third quarter and outscored the Tigers 17-15 in the period. Reid was particularly effective and scored eight of her team-high 14 points. At one point the Outlaws had cut the Tigers’ lead to 11, but by the end of the quarter they trailed by 17, 30-47.

The Outlaws got the ball to post Shae Wyland in the final quarter, and she scored eight of her 10 points in the period. Sisters just could not recover from their first half deficit and loss by 14.

Patton said, “Jenna (Lake) came off the bench in the third, scored five points, and was a big part of our improvement in breaking their press. Despite the score I was pleased with the outcome of the game because we got better.

“We can’t really replicate a good press in practice due to the discrepancy in ability of the varsity and JV girls when we’re scrimmaging,” added Patton. “We do need to work on understanding the tactical approach of ball reversal and diagonal cutters for next time we face a press.”

Sisters was to host Cottage Grove on Tuesday, December 12. They will play on the road at South Umpqua on Friday.