Lady Outlaws split first two games of league

The Lady Outlaws basketball team trailed the entire contest against the Pleasant Hill (PH) Billies in the league opener at home on Wednesday, January 3, and lost in a final score of 42-35. Three days later, they crushed the La Pine Hawks 58-21 on the road.

On Wednesday against PH Sisters couldn’t get anything to go their way in the first quarter and trailed 2-13 when the buzzer brought an end to the period. Pleasant Hill was effective and was able to get the ball into their strong post player, Claire Crawford, who finished with eight of the team’s 13 points.

Coach Paul Patton said, “A combination of missed shots and turnovers in the quarter put us in a hole that we’d spend the rest of the game trying to dig out of.”

Jenna Lake and Maggie Lutz each hit a three for the Outlaws in the second period to tighten the gap just a bit. Both teams put up eight points in the quarter, and at the half the Outlaws were down 10-21.

The scoring stayed close in the third, with the Outlaws scoring 13 and the Billies 12. Ila Reid scored seven of the Outlaws points, and Audrey Corcoran went 4-4 from the charity stripe.

In the final quarter the Billies stretched their lead to 12 at 26-38 with four minutes left on the clock. The Outlaws were able to come to within seven points of the Billies, but that was as far as they would get. With under a minute left the Billies’ post got free on a sideline out of bounds play, scored, and put PH up by nine (33-42). Reid answered with a driving basket with 20 seconds left, and time expired on the clock.

Patton said, “PH is a good team, defending league champs, and the highest ranked team in our league at #6 in the state. If we could have gotten off to a little better start we would have been in a better position to challenge for the lead at the end of the game. The girls played hard throughout the game and we had moments where things clicked. We’re still working on playing at a faster tempo and getting the ball up the court quicker for some transition baskets.”

“Defensively, we put up pretty good resistance and a little better execution of our team principles of pressure- and-deny will make us even harder to score on,” added Patton. “We are also still working on getting consistent offensive contributions from more players. But I feel good that we’ll get there.”

Reid led the Outlaws in scoring with 17 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Audrey Corcoran scored eight and had eight rebounds and three assists. Jenna Lake tallied five points, and Shae Wyland contributed with two points, eight boards, and three steals.

In Saturday’s contest against La Pine the Lady Outlaws got off to a fast start thanks to three steals and breakaway layups from Corcoran, and four three-pointers, one each from Lake, Paityn Cotner, Lutz, and Reid. At the close of the first period the Outlaws were on top 22-2.

In the second quarter, Corcoran put up seven more points, including a long ball from behind the arc. La Pine picked things up on the offensive end and their top player, Hailey Smith, scored nine points. At the half Sisters held a commanding 35-11 lead.

At halftime, Patton told his girls that they could improve their play even more in the second half by playing faster, forcing the Hawks on defense, and competing for every rebound.

Sisters outscored the Hawks 16-4 in the third quarter. Corcoran scored seven of those points, and Reid scored six. The final period was a running clock due to the thirty-point lead mercy rule. The Outlaws were able to rest their starters and the reserves did a good job as the game wrapped up.

Corcoran and Reid were Sisters’ leading scorers. Corcoran had a strong game, with aggressive on-ball defense, which resulted in numerous steals that led to layups. She finished the night with 22 points. Reid scored 13 points for Sisters and also did a great job on the boards.

Patton said, “La Pine is down this year in the strength of their roster, and they were missing a couple of players due to illness. Regardless of that, we focused on our own play, took control of the game quickly, and kept up the effort throughout the game.”