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Wednesday, February 21, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Outlaws capture Sky-Em League basketball title
By Rongi Yost
Correspondent
The Outlaws wrapped up
league basketball play with
a 48-42 win over the visiting
Sutherlin Bulldogs. It was a
dramatic game the entire way,
with the Sky-Em League title
on the line.
Last year, the Outlaws
tied with Cottage Grove for
a first-place finish in league,
and this year earned the title
outright.
Prior to the start of the
contest, the Outlaws hon-
ored their senior players: Ty
Horner, Austin Lake, Isaiah
Rush, James Ceciliani and
Taylor Scholl.
Sisters jumped out quick,
and took a 14-5 lead to close
out the first quarter. The
Outlaws had some trouble
in the second quarter, and
turnovers and missed shots
allowed the Bulldogs back
in. At the half, Sutherlin had
closed the gap to one, 20-19.
The Outlaws came out
strong in the third, and had
a chance to head into the
fourth quarter up by eight, but
Sutherlin hit a long three from
just inside the half-court line,
and closed the lead to five
(34-29).
Back-and-forth scoring
marked the final quarter. Zach
Anderson scored five points,
Horner scored four, and Noah
Richards scored three down
the stretch late in the game to
keep the Outlaws in the lead.
Sisters got great defensive
stops, worked the ball for good
shots, and several times beat
Sutherlin’s press for scores.
The Outlaws led most of the
contest and had a couple of
chances to turn a close game
into a 10-12 point contest.
But, the Bulldogs were relent-
less, and kept coming back to
stay within just a few points.
Leading scorers for the
Outlaws were Horner with
14, Anderson with 13, and
Richards with 12. Sisters
dropped three three-point
shots, all in the second half;
one each from Anderson,
Richards, and Berg.
Isaiah Rush and Brad
Eagan both played good
floor games, and directed the
offense from the point guard
position.
Rush and Anderson did a
great job defending against
Sutherlin’s point guard, and
Horner played a great game
against their post player. Ty
was also tough inside, and
scored against Sutherlin’s
physical defense. Richards
had some big rebounds for the
Outlaws in the fourth quarter,
and Berg played solid the
entire game, scoring all five
of his points in the second
half.
Coach David Godfrey
said, “It was an especially
sweet win, because we were
able to avenge a 26-point loss
to them in the first round of
league. The kids showed a
lot of heart to come back and
play so much better this time
around.
“It has been a year full
of challenges, with all the
injuries and illnesses, but the
kids did a great job of over-
coming all this to win the
league. It’s a great accom-
plishment, that’s for sure. We
are all really proud of them.”
Richards commented on
the win.
“Sutherlin’s a very disci-
plined team. We really had to
work for the win. It was for
the title, and it came down to
who wanted it more.”
T h r e e d a y s e a r l i e r,
Richards was on fire, and
seemed to hit nothing but
net as he led the Outlaws to
a decisive 64-29 win at home
against Elmira. Noah led all
scorers with 31 points.
Richards started Sisters
scoring onslaught with a big
three. Horner and Anderson
put up four points each, and
at the close of the first quar-
ter, the Outlaws held an 11-10
advantage over the Falcons.
Elmira scored on their first
possession to start the second
period, and took their first
and only lead in the contest at
12-10. Richards poured it on,
and posted 13 of the Outlaws
17 second-quarter points.
Sisters held the Falcons to
just five points in the quarter,
and at the half were on top
28-15.
Sisters came out firing on
all cylinders in the third, and
went on an 8-0 run before
Elmira called a time out. The
time out didn’t slow down
the Outlaws’ momentum, as
Richards immediately scored
a bucket, and then Horner
brought the crowd to their
feet with a slam-dunk. The
Outlaws continued to score,
thanks to great relay passes
that were quick and crisp.
The Outlaws tacked on 13
more points in the final four
minutes of the third period,
held the Falcons scoreless,
and took a commanding
53-17 advantage to close out
the quarter.
Sisters’ bench saw sig-
nificant time on the court in
the second half, and made
some big contributions. Ryan
Waddell sparked the Outlaws
in the final quarter. Ryan hit
two big shots from behind the
arc, and closed out the game
with a great move to the bas-
ket for a lay-in.
Godfrey commented on
Waddell’s contribution.
“Ryan did a good job of
being aggressive on offense
and defense,” said Godfrey.
“He’s been working on his
shot in practice, so it was nice
to see him hit some shots.”
Godfrey also had praise
for his bench players.
“It was neat to see them
come in the game with the
same high intensity as the
starters had. And, they kept
up our good play on defense.”
Richards scored all 31 of
his points in three quarters
of play. Anderson scored 10,
Horner and Waddell contrib-
uted eight, and Jack Berg
pitched in for four.
Godfrey stated, “Noah did
a great job of being aggres-
sive on offense. He attacked
the basket, ran the ball well,
and his teammates got him
the ball. He also played well
on defense, and sparked us
there.”
Of his performance, Noah
said, “I just felt steady and
calm and in a groove, and felt
like I couldn’t miss. My team-
mates were very unselfish,
and gave me great passes.”
Horner commented, “We
shared the ball well, and tran-
sitioned well. We rebounded
well on both ends of the court.
It was a good team win.”
Godfrey summed up the
game.
“All in all, it was a good
team effort. We shared the
ball well, were active, and we
hit the open man. It’s nice to
finally have all of our play-
ers back, healthy, and playing
together.”
The Outlaws will host a
game on Saturday, March
3. Their opponent won’t be
decided until after the first-
round games, which will be
held February 24.
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