The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

The girls basketball team started preseason with a very close game against Redmond on Wednesday, December 1, but suffered a 45-41 loss. A day later, on the road, they defeated Estacada 49-36. In Wednesday’s action, Sisters competed very well against the larger 5A Redmond squad. The Outlaws are learning a new system of play under a new coach, Paul Patton — their third coach in the last three years — and are quickly learning the new system. One aspect of the new style of play includes getting as many girls as possible into the game, and the Outlaws had 14 different players see significant minutes throughout the contest.

Redmond outscored the Outlaws 30-16 in the first half, but the Outlaws persevered and battled hard in the second half. At the close of the third period, they’d narrowed the Panthers lead to six, 31-37. The Outlaws made a nice run late in the game and cut a double-digit deficit down to just three points in the last minute, and at the final buzzer lost by four.

Hadley Schar stood out in her first game as a varsity starter and led the team with eight points and tenacious defense. Senior captains Emma Lutz and Payden Petterson provided steady leadership and solid rebounds throughout the contest with both players finishing the game with six boards. Lutz also had six steals, six assists, and one block, and Petterson tallied seven points. The Outlaws had 10 different players

contribute in the scoring effort.

The Outlaws travelled to Estacada the following day. Sisters got off to a slow start but quickly adjusted and had a strong first half. They held the Rangers to just 11 points in the first two quarters and entered the half with a 24-11 lead.

Sisters played an aggressive full-court press,3 which resulted in turnovers by the Rangers and transition buckets for the Outlaws. A lot of Sisters’ takeaways came as the Rangers melted under the pressure and threw errant passes out of bounds.

“I was really pleased with our team’s defense and the fact that we held them to just 11 points in the first half,” said Patton.

Sisters outscored Estacada 16-7 in the third period, and early in the fourth quarter the Outlaws were up by 23 points. They let down their guard and the Rangers made a run,

hit some three-pointers, and cut the Outlaws’ lead down to nine points. Sisters reapplied the press, stretched their lead back to 16, and went on to secure the 13-point victory.

“That was a lesson learned in that we can’t let up the pressure even when we have a big lead,” said Coach Patton.

The Outlaws again went deep into their bench and gave 14 girls meaningful minutes on the court, which allowed them to stay fresh and not be fatigued late in the game.

Patton said, “It’s just more fun when everyone plays.”

Josie Patton led the Outlaws with 14 points, and also pulled down five boards and was a physical and vocal disrupter in the full court press. Haleigh Froelich also stood out. She led the team with six rebounds and hit four of her shots from the charity stripe.

Petterson had a solid all-around game with six points, four rebounds and four steals. Ila Reid was the Outlaws No. 2 scorer with nine points, and the leading rebounder with six. Maggie Lutz led the team with five steals.

Emma Lutz was named the Outlaws’ player of the week for her steady leadership in her demanding role as point guard.

Sisters was to play at home against Elmira on Tuesday, December 7. They are scheduled to play at home against Crook County on Wednesday, December 8, and then travel to LaPine for a game on Saturday.