Girls basketball launches into preseason play

The Lady Outlaws started their preseason with a 62-29 win at home over Santiam Christian (SC) on Thursday, December 5, but the following day fell 54-48 on the road at Cottage Grove (CG).

In Thursday’s action, freshmen Maddie Durham and Verbena Brent scored Sisters first points of the contest. The team played well in transition and Audrey Corcoran led the squad with seven points in the period, despite a sore back. The SC Eagles had a 6-0 run to end the quarter and close the gap to 14-8.

Corcoran stayed hot in the second period and put up eight more points, mainly off steals and breakaway lay-ins. Shae Wyland also helped in the scoring effort and Durham hit a nice long ball off a Corcoran assist. Sisters closed out the half with a 16-point advantage, 34-18.

Coach Paul Patton said, “At halftime we talked about continuing to run, but taking better care of the basketball. We also discussed how to defend their pick-and-roll action better.”

In the third period, Wyland put up eight points, and Jorja Christianson chipped in with five, including a nice three-pointer on a baseline out-of-bounds play. At the close of the third the Outlaws had extended their lead to 52-25.

Norah Thorsett came in for Corcoran in the final period, and according to Patton, did a nice job of taking care of the ball. Patton was pleased that all 10 players on the roster got in good minutes in both halves of the contest.

Corcoran led the team in scoring with 17 points in three quarters of play, and also did a great job at the point, defended the ball well, and stole several passes. Wyland scored 16 points, and did a great job on the boards. Brent and Christianson scored seven points each, and Durham added six.

“What the team did well in the game was transition offense and defensive hustle,” said Patton. “What we need to improve on is our defensive rebounding, as they got a lot of second and third shots at the basket. But overall, I’m really pleased with our season opening effort. The girls tried to run our system with some positive results and now we have to keep building on it.”

In Friday’s contest the Outlaws got off to a fast start with Corcoran grabbing a steal on the opening tip-off and converting on a break-away lay-in. Durham followed on the Outlaws next possession with a three-pointer. Corcoran had eight points in the quarter and at the end of the first period Sisters was on top 16-12. 

Sisters stuttered in the second quarter and was only able to score four points, while the CG Lions scored 15.

“They went to a 1-2-2 zone defense, and we struggled to figure it out, settling for quick perimeter shots or shots off the dribble,” said Patton. “Their best player, Mariah Bailey, got going and scored seven points, including a three-pointer.”

At the half the Outlaws trailed by seven, 20-27.

Patton said, “At halftime we talked about being more principled in our offensive attack by moving the ball more quickly from side-to-side and getting our cutter going to create better player movement as well.”

In the third period the Outlaws offense picked back up, and Corcoran led the way with nine points, including a long ball. Patton told The Nugget that Sisters did a better job of putting pressure on the rim and getting to the foul line. Unfortunately, the Outlaws were only able to convert two of their 10 attempts from the line.

The Outlaws did cut into the Lions’ lead a bit, but Bailey stayed hot for the Lions and put up nine points in the quarter. At the end of three the Outlaws were down 37-41.

CG stretched their lead to 11 early in the final quarter. The Outlaws clawed their way back to within five late in the period, sparked by steals and breakaway baskets from Wyland and Corcoran. 

Patton told The Nugget that the Outlaws just couldn’t get any of their wide open three-pointers to fall and CG hit two threes on their end, which gave them the six-point victory.

Corcoran led Sisters scoring effort with 22 points. Durham scored eight, and Wyland and Brent added six points each. Wyland was the rebounding and steal leader with 14 and six respectively. Corcoran followed with nine rebounds and five steals.

“I was really pleased with our competitive effort on a back-to-back game night,” said Patton. “Even when the lead crept up to double digits a couple times, we continued just playing basketball and pulled back within striking distance at the end. CG is a 4A playoff quality team. We just had a low production second quarter that put us in too big of a hole to dig out of. With more practice we will certainly improve our offensive efficiency and get more dialed in to our disruptive defensive strategy.

“Audrey was once again stellar for us in the scorebook, but we didn’t have a second player get into the double digits like CG did, with Bailey going 23 and [Makya] Alsup with 18,” added Patton. “I believe we have other capable scorers on the floor, but we just have to get them in the spots where they can make shots.”

Patton noted that the Outlaws rebounding effort was better than in their previous game, with Wyland and Corcoran leading in that area. Brent also had four big boards for the Outlaws.