Wednesday, March 8, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
5
Sisters falls to Gladstone at the buzzer
By Rongi Yost
Correspondent
The Outlaws traveled
to Gladstone for the first
round of the state playoffs
held on Friday, March 3. A
huge crowd made the trek
over the mountain to support
the Outlaws, and all were
stunned and heartbroken with
the 26-25 loss.
The contest was a physi-
cal, defensive battle. The
Portland Referee Association
is known for allowing physi-
cal play, and Coach Rand
Runco told The Nugget he
felt the team handled the
physicality of the game well,
but struggled finishing shots
at the rim.
Sisters jumped out quick;
every starter scored points,
and at the close of the first
quarter they held an 11-4
lead. As always, Sisters’
defense was stifling. The
Outlaws are known as the
best defensive team in the
state and have held teams to
15-to-20 points below their
average all season long.
In the second period, the
defensive battle continued,
and the Outlaws grabbed mul-
tiple offensive boards. Tyler
and Tanner Head, Keegan
Greaney, and Ty Horner
pounded the Gladiators on
the glass, but they could not
finish their lay-ins against the
physical play. The Outlaws
also lost several possessions
due to unforced turnovers.
But on the positive side, the
Outlaws’ defense continued
to hold, and they went into
the half up 15-7.
In the second half,
Gladstone switched to sev-
eral different court presses,
which the Outlaws were able
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to handle. Sisters struggled to
get the ball to Horner in the
paint, but still managed to
hang onto the lead.
The Outlaws made three
small runs, but each time got
stopped due to untimely turn-
overs. Gladstones’ Warren
and Rodriquez hit key three-
pointers in the third to keep
the Gladiators close.
Sisters’ guards attacked
the basket and again the
Outlaws extended their lead.
Noah Richards did a great
job getting to the basket,
converted a tough lay-in and
went two-for-two from the
line to keep the Outlaws out
front.
The Outlaws pulled to a
six-point lead in the fourth.
They got the ball to Jack
Berg, who made a nice lay-in,
which forced the Gladiators
to switch presses once again.
Gladstone got an offensive
rebound and hit Rodriguez,
who put down his third three-
pointer of the game, and
moved them to within three.
Gladstone’s guard was
fouled while trying to break
the Outlaws defense, and hit
one free-throw that made
it a two-point game. The
Gladiators immediately
fouled, but the Outlaws were
unable to convert.
The Outlaws were up by
two with less than 10 sec-
onds on the clock. Gladstone
drove to the rim, took a shot,
and Sisters was called for a
shooting foul.
With seven seconds left,
Gladstone missed the free-
throw, but a wild bounce
gave them back the ball.
The Gladiators took their
final time-out. Gladstone’s
Warren came off a screen,
caught the ball at 30 feet and
let it go for a buzzer-beater.
After leading the entire con-
test, the Outlaws and the fans
were stunned and devastated
with the loss.
Coach Rand Runco said,
“We have been in so many
close games this season. We
knew what we had to do and
took good care of the ball, but
we did not hit the free throws
down the stretch to win.”
Sisters went three-for-
eight from the line and
missed three front-ends from
the line in the fourth quarter,
which allowed Gladstone to
stay within striking distance.
Tyler Head finished
with six points, Jack Berg
recorded five, Ty Horner
and Noah Richards each had
four, and Greaney and Ben
Saba each added three. The
Outlaws went 5-for-12 from
the line.
“It was heartbreaking,”
said Runco. “We played so
hard and we are so proud
of these boys. Our unforced
turnovers really stopped
us from pulling ahead. Our
defense was awesome and we
did a nice job attacking, but
we missed a lot of lay-ins and
free-throws down the stretch,
which would have iced the
win.
“It’s been a great season
with a 17-8 record, with only
four losses to 4A teams, and
three of those by only one
point. This was a very good
team, and they were great
fun to coach and watch. I’m
so proud of them, especially
with so many players being
new to varsity this year. Our
seniors are great role models
and really great guys. We will
miss them. Keegan Greaney,
Jake Larson, JW Bertagna,
Tyler Head, Tanner Head,
Guides
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Open 7 days a week
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and Ben Larson did a fan-
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are excited about the young
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for a really good season.”
Maps
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Keagan Greaney goes to the rim for a rebound against Gladstone.
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