Outlaws have mixed results in Sisters Shootout

The Outlaws hosted their annual Sisters Shootout Thursday through Saturday, January 2-4. Teams in attendance were: 3A Warrenton, Valley Catholic, Banks, Taft, and Sisters and 4A Junction City, Madras, and Henley.

Sisters won one of their three games played. They suffered a close 51-54 loss to Banks on Thursday, came back on Friday and defeated Warrenton in an exciting 50-48 finish, and wrapped up play on Saturday with a disappointing 49-60 loss to Madras.

On Thursday Sisters matched up against Banks and trailed the entire contest. 

The Outlaws were slowed down at the start of the contest by the Braves’ tough 2-3 zone, and only put up two points in the first five minutes of play. The Braves jumped out to a nine point advantage, 2-11, and took control of the game. Landen Scott scored all seven of the Outlaws’ points and at the close of the quarter the Outlaws trailed 7-15.

In the second period, the Outlaws had a 6-3, and an 8-2 run, which closed the gap to six at the half. Will McDonnell and Oliver Bernhardt each hit long balls from behind the arc, Bernhardt’s coming with just three seconds left in the quarter. McDonnell put up five of the Outlaws’ 16 second quarter points and at the half Sisters was down 23-29.

Scott scored the first points of the third period on a full court transition layup and cut the Braves lead to four. Banks maintained the lead, and late in the quarter went on an 8-4 run to go up by 10 at the end of the period. Once again, Scott scored all of the Outlaws 13 third quarter points.

The Outlaws’ deficit grew to 12 points early in the final period, but then they mounted a 7-0 run and cut the Braves’ lead to three. McDonnell hit a three-pointer, Bernhardt scored on a transition layup and Scott scored a two-pointer at the rim.

Banks hit a couple of free throws and pushed their lead back to five. Kale Gardner answered with a three pointer from the corner with 1:29 left on the clock and cut the lead to two at 51-53, the closest the Outlaws had been since the opening basket.

Unfortunately, the Outlaws were forced to foul and the Braves hit one of their two free-throws to give them the final three-point victory.  

Scott finished with 27 points, four rebounds, and three assists. McDonnell scored eight points, pulled down four boards, and had four assists. Kieren Labhart tallied six points, and Gardner and Bernhardt each added five points. Gardner also had three assists and Bernhardt had six rebounds.

Coach Chad Rush said, “This was another frustrating game for the Outlaws against a team they felt they had a chance to win against. The match-up 2-3 zone gave us problems most of the game and it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that we finally started to figure out how to effectively score against the zone.

“I am once again proud of the team for not giving in when the odds were against us, but instead battled and fought to the very end, giving themselves an opportunity at the final horn,” added Rush.

On Friday the Outlaws played a great game in their two-point win over Warrenton.

Rush told The Nugget that the Outlaws were determined to bounce back from their tough loss against Banks the previous night. The Outlaws came up against another zone defense, and knew they had to be disciplined in their offensive approach, unlike the night before.

Sisters scored the first three points of the game when Labhart scored a layup at the rim and connected on one of two free throws. Neither team was able to put many points on the scoreboard in the first period as both defenses had control. Midway through, Bernhardt connected on a three pointer up top with two minutes left in the quarter, and Labhart closed out the scoring with a short shot under the basket to give the Outlaws a 9-6 advantage.

Scott got the scoring going in the second quarter with a mid-range floater that just beat the shot clock buzzer. With the score tied at 16-16, the Outlaws went on a 6-0 run and increased their lead to six. Bernhardt scored on a transition layup, and hit a three-pointer in the run. With 25 seconds left in the half, the game was tied 22-22. McDonnell was fouled on a three-point attempt at the buzzer and connected on two of three free throws to give the Outlaws the 24-22 lead at the break.

The Outlaws got a defensive stop to start the third period, and Gardner converted a transition layup at the other end. The score stayed close throughout the quarter, and with two minutes left McDonnell connected on a long ball, with an assist from Levi Szesze to put the Outlaws on top 33-32. Unfortunately, that was the last Outlaws’ score, and the Warriors scored four straight points and closed out the quarter wtih a three point lead at 33-36.

Sisters went down by five early in the final period, but then surged back and went on a 12-2 run to go up by five and take control of the game. Garrett Sager, Scott, Szesze, Bernhardt, and McDonnell all scored points for the Outlaws in that run. The Warriors cut the Outlaws lead back to three, and then Labhart scored Sisters final field goal to put them back up by five with just under a minute left to play. 

At the 16-second mark, the Outlaws were only up by one. Labhart connected on one of his two free throws and made it a 50-48 game. The Warriors had one final chance to tie to take the lead with four seconds left, but McDonnell blocked the offensive player’s shot attempt, gathered the rebound, and outlet the ball to Gardner to secure the victory.

Bernhardt led the scoring effort with 12 points, followed by Labhart who scored nine. Scott, Gardner, and McDonnell put up eight points each. Gardner also had seven rebounds and four assists, and Scott recorded five rebounds. Szesze pitched in with three points and four assists and Sager finished with two points and six rebounds.

Gardner said, “Our team battled through adversity and pushed together towards the end of the game and won it on defense. Overall as a team we played together and that reflected in our success.”

“This was a gritty win against a very aggressive and physical Warrior team,” said Rush. “I was proud of how the team responded tonight after a disappointing loss the night before. Tonight our focus was to play from in front instead of finding ourselves having to play from behind and for the most part, we were able to do that, especially early in the game. To make a defensive stop on the final play of the game was great to see.”

Sisters wrapped up their tournament play on Saturday with a disappointing loss against the Madras White Buffaloes.

Sisters came into the game with their 2-3 defense in an attempt to try and stop the interior play of the White Buffaloes. Rush told The Nugget that this strategy worked in the early part of the first period as Sisters forced long jump shots that were missed and gathered up by the Outlaws. Late in the quarter Madras did connect on three longs balls on three consecutive possessions to go on a 9-0 run. The White Buffs quickly went from being down by four to being up by three points at the close of the period.

The Outlaws scored the first five points of the second quarter, which included a three from Bernhardt from the baseline, and a layup from McDonnell. Unfortunately, the Outlaws were held scoreless for three minutes and their momentum from the fast start quickly faded. With just over two minutes left, Labhart scored a lay-up that cut the White Buffs lead to two, 25-27. Sisters outscored the Buffs 13-12 in the quarter and at the half were down by three, 28-31.

Sisters struggled at the start of the third and were outscored 2-10 in the first four minutes of the period. With just over a minute left in the quarter Scott stole the ball, took it to the rim for a lay-up, and was fouled. He converted the free throw to get the Outlaws within 10 at 31-41. Sisters scoring slump only gave them five points in the period, while the Buffs put up 15. At the close of the third the Outlaws trailed 33-45.

The Outlaws kept fighting in the final period. Labhart and Scott hit back-to-back layups and cut the lead to nine just 40 seconds into the quarter. Unfortunately, that nine-point margin would be as close as the Outlaws would get. The White Buffs hit timely shots and free throws and kept a safe lead. Time expired and the Outlaws took the loss.

Scott finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, and four steals, and Gardner and Labhart each scored 10. Bernhardt contributed nine points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Rush said, “We knew this was going to be a tough game against a very good Madras team with their size and athleticism. For not playing a lot of zone defense prior to this game, I thought the team did a good job of executing that part of the game plan. We struggled offensively against the physicality and toughness of Madras. This will only serve to help us learn how to get better at this as we head into conference play and face a similar style of defenses in several of our conference foes. With just two more non-league games left on the schedule, we will look to regroup from a tough and challenging three-day stretch and clean up some areas to get ourselves ready for conference play.”

The Outlaws will travel to Douglas on Tuesday, January 7, and on Saturday, four days later, they will host the Burns Highlanders.