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Wednesday, January 17, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Boys basketball squeaks by Cottage Grove to win league opener
By Rongi Yost
Correspondent
The boys basketball
squad lost 67-64 to Madras
in their last pre-season game
on Tuesday, January 9.
They staved off the Lions at
Cottage Grove in the league
opener on Friday, three days
later, with a 50-48 win.
Friday’s win against
the Lions was an intense
contest, with lead changes
throughout.
The Outlaws got an early
lead in the first, but at the
close of the period the Lions
had tied it up at 13-13. CG
outscored Sisters in the sec-
ond, and at the break the
Outlaws trailed by four,
26-22.
In the third, the Outlaws
fell behind by nine, but kept
battling hard, and at the close
of the period closed the gap
to three.
Sisters tied it up late in
the fourth, and had posses-
sion of the ball with about
30 seconds left in the game.
They ran down the clock to
10 seconds, and then Noah
Richards scored on a drive
to put the Outlaws up by two
with five seconds left on the
clock. CG missed a shot at
the buzzer and the Outlaws
recorded the win.
The entire team contrib-
uted to the win. Jack Berg
played a solid game and led
all payers with 17 points.
Zach Anderson scored 10
points, and did a great job
on the boards. Richards not
only scored the winning bas-
ket, but handled the ball well,
and also grabbed big boards.
Isaiah Rush played solid at
the guard position and scored
seven points, even though he
was dealing was a sore knee.
Austin Lake played a good
offensive game, rebounded
well, and finished with seven
points.
James Ceciliani sparked
the Outlaws off the bench, as
did Taylor Scholl and Ryan
Waddell. Scholl played solid
defense and Waddell contrib-
uted on defense and on the
boards.
“All in all, the players did
a really good job of staying
focused, getting stops, scores,
and then more stops,” said
Coach David Godfrey. “We
played with grit and poise,
and the win on the road was a
good start for us. It was great
to see, since our league has
a lot of good teams in it. We
need to be prepared for more
games like this.”
Sisters’ game against
Madras earlier in the week
was a hard-fought contest,
with numerous lead changes.
Sisters got down early, but
then battled back to go up
30-22. Madras had a 10-1 run
at the close of the first half,
and the White Buffs regained
the lead 32-31.
Sisters had 19 turnovers
in the first half, but hung in
there to only trail by one at
the half.
In the second half, the
Outlaws controlled the tempo
and handled the ball bet-
ter. They cut down on their
turnovers, and kept the game
close.
Berg hit a big three to put
the Outlaws on top 64-63
with about one minute left
in the game. Sisters fouled a
Madras player with 20 sec-
onds left on the clock. The
White Buff made both his
shots, which gave them back
the lead at 65-64.
The Outlaws were work-
ing hard for a final shot when
Madras stole the ball and hit
a lay-in with five seconds left
to go. Sisters missed a three,
and Madras tallied the win.
Berg had 20 points for the
Outlaws, Richards scored
15, and Anderson scored 10.
Scholl contributed six, and
Brad Eagan and Waddell
added four points each.
Richards was back
for the first time since
missing six games. Noah
had a good performance, and
shot and passed the ball well.
Anderson also had a good
game; he attacked the basket,
and was big on the boards.
Noah said, “I was a little
rusty in the first half, and
actually had to sit the sec-
ond quarter because of fouls.
In the second half, my team
really encouraged me. I got
in the groove and started to
play my game.”
Noah scored only two
points in the first half, but
rallied and came back with
13 points in the second half
of the contest.
James Ceciliani came
off the bench and gave the
Outlaws some good min-
utes. James played well on
defense, took two charges,
and hit three of four free
throws.
“All-in-all, we battled
PHOTO BY OUTLAWS PHOTOGRAPHY
and had a chance to win at
the end,” said Coach David Noah Richards had a strong week on the hardwood for the Outlaws.
Godfrey. “It was a good
test for us, and we did a lot day, I think we’ll have a great Home on Tuesday, January
of good things. We hung in chance at taking the league 16. They will play at home
against Junction City on
there when we were behind, title.”
The Outlaws were to Friday. Sisters’ overall record
took better care of the ball as
the game went on, and had a play at home against Sweet is 8-7.
chance to win at the end. It
just didn’t happen this time.”
Richards said, “We’re a
tight group. We stick together
and always play hard.
Considering all the injuries
we’ve had, we’ve done well.
We get a fresh start as we
start league play, and we’re
hoping to really play as a
team and do our very best.
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