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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 2018)
Wednesday, December 19, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 9 Outlaws battled fierce competition in tournament By Rongi Yost Correspondent The boys basketball squad traveled to Coos Bay and competed in the Les Schwab Tournament held at Marshfield High School, Thursday through Saturday, December 13-15. Top teams from all over the state were in attendance, and competi- tion was fierce. Sisters started the tour- ney with a 43-37 win over Junction City (JC) on Thursday. The Outlaws had a sluggish first half, turned the ball over due to bad tim- ing, and missed several early shots. In contrast, JC played excellent defense and slowed the game down. At the half, Sisters trailed by five, 16-21. The Outlaws came out in the second half fired up, stepped up their defense, and started to hit their shots. Sisters’ energy improved, and the Outlaws really tamed the Tigers in the second half. Brad Eagan and Ryan Waddell both hit their shots from behind the arc, and the team as a whole hit five threes in the second half. Sisters played tough and out- scored the Tigers 27-16 in the final half. Down the stretch the Outlaws were six-for- seven from the stripe. Waddell led the team with 15 points, Jack Berg scored 14, and Eagan added nine. Coach Rand Runco told The Nugget that Zach Anderson, Waddell, and Berg all did a fabulous job on the boards, which allowed the Outlaws to stay in the game. Runco said, “The big difference in the game is that Junction City really packed the paint for the entire game, and we were finally able to kick the ball to the back side and hit threes. We were five- for-nine from the three-point line. This win put us on the winners side of the bracket and moved us into a great position.” On Friday, Sisters fell 58-45 to LaSalle. The Outlaws fought hard against a really good 5A squad, but had a few too many turn- overs, and gave up some easy shots. The Outlaws were down by eight at halftime, and LaSalle managed to extend their lead and hold on for the win. Sisters did manage to cut it to five at one point, and cut it down to six three dif- ferent times. LaSalle’s point guard, Norton, is the returning Player of the Year, and Runco told The Nugget that he gave the Outlaws a dag- ger every time they cut the lead. Norton hit two three- pointers screaming off of a double screen, and broke free in transition to score. Sisters also put LaSalle on the line, and they went six- for-six from the stripe in the second half. Eagan led Sisters with 15 points, and Noah Richards in his first game and play- ing the second half finished with nine points. Berg tallied seven points, and Waddell added six. “They were really well- balanced and ran a five-out offense that kept us chas- ing,” said Runco. “The boys Non-School Kids Camp Register now for non-school-day kids camps at SPRD • Grades K–4 • $25 View SPRD activities & classes, and register online at www.SistersRecreation.com 1750 W. Mckinney Butte Rd. | 541-549-2091 SNO CAP MINI STORAGE Sisters Industrial Park 157 Sisters Park Dr. • 541-549-3575 www.SistersStorage.com • State-of-the-art Security Technology • Sizes from 5x5 to 12x40 • Individual Gate Codes • Long-term Discounts • On-site Manager played their hearts out and fought to the end. Each time we closed the gap, either we were haunted by a turnover or they hit a big shot. We had a real shot, but needed to play a better first half, and not get ourselves in a hole. We played incredibly hard, but again, we had a few too many turnovers early. We fought back so many times, but could not get it over the hump. It was a tough loss against a really tough team.” LaSalle went on to win the tournament, and beat top-ranked Marshfield in the final game. Sisters fell 42-35 in their final game against their new league foe Philomath in the third-place game. The Outlaws started out well, and took control early. Philomath is a much bigger team than the Outlaws, but the Outlaws beat them on the boards and were able to get to more loose balls. Sisters held a slim two- point lead, 11-9, to close out the first quarter, and at the half were only up by one, 17-16. Anderson played a great first half for the Outlaws with 10 points. By the end of the third, the game was still very close with the Outlaws holding a two-point advantage, 30-28. In the final quarter, Philomath switched back to their 1-3-1 zone, which the Outlaws tore apart in the first half. Sisters missed open looks, and the Warriors capitalized on numerous turnovers. Philomath took the lead for the first time with approx- imately three minutes left in the game, and the Outlaws struggled to score. Berg had some great looks at the bas- ket, but the shots went in and then right back out. Sisters had to foul in the final seconds, and the Warriors converted on their shots. “It was a rough loss,” said Runco. “We went one-for- two at the tournament, and we played better teams than we had been facing, and we learned a lot. We can com- pete with anyone, but need to put full games together. The boys work so hard, and are really having fun playing together. We are not deep, but working on our depth, and with Noah (Richards) back with our seniors we have a great core that play so well together.” “It was a lesson in tour- nament play. We had four games in five days, and I feel fatigue got a hold of us. The LaSalle game was a great experience, and we just ran out of gas against Philomath.” ON THE CORNER OF S. PINE ST. & W. HOOD AVE. 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