The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

The Outlaws hosted the annual Sisters Shootout Tournament on Thursday through Saturday, December 28-30. Sisters got off to a great start with a 50-36 win over the Mazama Vikings on Thursday, but a day later suffered a tough 33-51 loss to Banks. They faced the Hidden Valley Mustangs in their final game on Saturday and lost 47-50 in a tight contest.

On December 28, the Vikings scored the first points of the contest, but the Outlaws responded with a 7-0 run. Diego Silva scored five of those points, two baskets in the paint on consecutive possessions and he converted on one of two free throw attempts. Mazama inched back in and at the close of the first quarter the Outlaws held a one point lead 12-11.

Silva was hot again for the Outlaws in the second period, and scored the first eight points in the quarter. He scored on a driving layup, hit a three pointer from the corner to extend the Outlaw lead to 17-11, and then scored on a long ball from behind the arc. The Vikings closed out the quarter on a 5-2 run and trailed by just four at the half.

Sisters played great defense in the second half, and didn’t allow the Vikings to get back in the game. They held Mazama to just nine points in the third, and held them scoreless for four minutes in the quarter. Landon Scott scored eight of the team’s 14 points and at the close of the third the Outlaws were on top 36-27.

The Vikings hit two three-pointers early in the final period, and pulled to within five points. However, the Outlaws stopped their momentum and held them scoreless for a three minute stretch, and in the meantime scored several baskets to stretch the lead back to nine points. Sisters held on and won by a 14 point margin.

Silva led the team with 15 points, Scott recorded 12, Kale Gardner tallied 11, and Brody Fischer added six.

“This was a good win for the Outlaws as we were able to stop several Viking runs by getting consecutive stops on defense while executing and scoring on offense,” said Coach Chad Rush. “I was proud of the team for being able to execute that tonight.”

A day later, the tides turned and the Outlaws lost by 18 to the Banks Braves.

Oliver Bernhardt led the squad with 13 points, Silva scored nine, and Scott added five.

Rush said, “This was a disappointing game for us as we were not able to get any traction on offense in the second half. Banks’ zone defense once again gave the Outlaws trouble, so we will need to continue to evaluate and retool our offensive strategy against zones that we will most certainly see in future games.”

The Outlaws wrapped up their tournament play on Saturday with a great game against the Hidden Valley Mustangs that ended in a loss.

Sisters went down 1-6 in the first quarter, but came back to take the lead off of consecutive three-points baskets; the first from Fischer on an assist from Gardner, and the second when Silva hit a transition three-pointer off a steal from Scott. The Mustangs forced the Outlaws into nine turnovers in the quarter, and closed out the period on an 8-2 run. At the end of the first quarter the Outlaws trailed 9-14.

Gardner scored the first points of the second period on a driving basket and cut the Mustang’s lead to 3 points. Three possessions later, Austin Dean connected on a three-pointer near the top of the key. That started an 11-0 run for the Outlaws and midway though the quarter they held a 22-16 advantage. The Mustangs closed out the quarter on a 10-2 run and took a two point lead at the half 24-26.

The Outlaws only went 3-for-10 from the charity stripe in the first half, and Rush told The Nugget they felt good about only being down by two points.

Gardner tied the game up after he converted two free throws on a foul on his drive to the basket at the start of the third. The Outlaws started the quarter on an 11-2 run, and the Mustangs finished on an 11-4 run to tie the game 39-39 at the close of the third. Scott scored nine of the Outlaws 15 quarter points.

Sisters started the final quarter on a 4-0 run, only to see the Mustangs go on an 8-0 run and take the lead. The Outlaws were down by four with 58 seconds left on the clock when Scott got fouled and calmly hit both free throws to cut the Mustangs lead to two. Hidden Valley scored a basket at the rim with 33 seconds left, followed by a transition bucket from Silva that cut the lead back to two with 24 seconds left.

The Outlaws were forced to foul and the Mustangs only hit one of their two attempts, which gave the Outlaws a chance with just 17 seconds left on the clock. Sisters got a shot at the rim, but couldn’t convert.

Gardner had a sensational chase-down blocked shot, and the Outlaws had to foul again with just six seconds left in order to get the ball back. The Mustangs missed both attempts at the charity stripe and the Outlaws secured the rebound. They raced down the court but weren’t able to get a shot off and the Mustangs secured the three-point win.

Gardner scored 14 points for the Outlaws, Scott followed with 13, Silva contributed six, and Fischer and Dean added five each.

Rush said, “This was a gut-check game for the Outlaws as it was our third game in three days. I was very proud of our team for the effort, intensity, and energy they showed after a disappointing game yesterday. With league play starting next Wednesday, it was good to see this type of effort from the team. I believe that will bode well for us during league play.”