Girls basketball posts first win of season

The girls basketball squad fell 37-50 at home to Cottage Grove on Tuesday, December 12, but three days later, they bounced back with a 65-47 victory on the road at South Umpqua.

In Tuesday’s action against the Lady Lions the Outlaws were shorthanded, with one starter out, with an injury and another for academic reasons. As a result the Outlaws played with just five varsity players, two of them freshmen (Audrey Corcoran and Paityn Cotner), and four girls swung up from the JV squad.

Sisters stayed within five points of the visiting squad in the first quarter until the last three minutes. At that point the Lions went on a five-point run and at the close of the quarter Sisters trailed 7-18. 

In the second quarter the Outlaws played almost even with the Lions. They scored eight points in the quarter, while the Lions put up nine. At the half they’d closed the gap to seven at 15-27.

Sisters only points in the third was a three-pointer from Cotner, and two free-throws from Ila Reid. Unfortunately, the Lions were hot offensively and put up 16 points in the quarter to go ahead by 23 at the close of the period.

Although the Outlaws were shorthanded they didn’t let fatigue keep them from playing hard until the final buzzer, and outscored the Lions 17-7 in the period. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to make up for the third-quarter deficit.

Reid led the team with 15 points, and also had six rebounds in the contest. Shae Wyland scored 13 points, and recorded six steals. Cotner recorded five points, and Audrey Corcoran contributed with two points and three steals.

Coach Paul Patton said, “I was really pleased with the solid play we got from our subs (Norah Thorsett, Holly Madron, Emma Sahlberg, and Althea Trask), who had just played three or four quarters in the JV game. They kept us competitive on the floor and allowed our starters to catch their breath.”

“We are becoming a better team,” added Patton. “Once we get our roster at full strength and become more familiar with the system we’re trying to run offensively and defensively, I believe we’ll be able to win games against good teams.”

At South Umpqua on Friday night, the Outlaws were again short two of their starters. The loss wasn’t a factor as Sisters dominated the entire game and proved they were definitely the better team. They got good shots from their half-court offense and made several easy buckets off of steals. On defense, the Outlaws rebounded the ball well, and forced the Lady Lancers to take harder shots. At the half Sisters held a commanding 41-22 lead.

In the third quarter the Outlaws continued to dominate and outscored the Lancers 14-7. In the final quarter the Outlaws experienced a drop in intensity due to fatigue and were outscored in the period, but still came out on top by 18.

Ten girls got minutes on the court for the Outlaws and nine of them scored points. Corcoran led the team with 15 points, Reid scored 13, and Wyland and Cotner tallied 10 points each. Emma Sahlberg recorded five points, Althea Crabtree and Norah Thorsett posted four each, Jorja Christianson added three, and Holly Davis pitched in with one.

Patton said, “Audrey (Corcoran) stood out not only for her scoring but for her steals on defense and passing as our point guard. Ila (Reid) was her usual strong self with inside scoring and rebounding as well as team leadership. Shae (Wyland) helped us by running the court in transition and blocking shots on defense, and Paityn (Cotner) probably had her best game of the year with 10 points and as our on-ball defender.”

The Outlaws will play on the road at Estacada on Wednesday. They will resume play on Thursday through Saturday, December 28-30 as they host the annual Sisters Shootout.