Lady Outlaws win two out of three in hoops

The Lady Outlaws started their week with a 38-23 win over Siuslaw on Monday, January 22. Three days later, they lost 20-36 on the road at Pleasant Hill. They wrapped up their week at home on Saturday with a 61-24 win over La Pine.

Sisters got off to a slow start in their game against Siuslaw in Monday’s contest. Their first point came three-and-a-half minutes in when Audrey Corcoran made one of her two free-throw attempts after getting fouled on a cut to the basket. Corcoran made a couple more baskets in the period and Ila Reid downed a three and at the close of the quarter the Outlaws were on top 10-9.

In the second period the Outlaws outscored the Vikings 10-3 and at the half held a 20-12 advantage.

Coach Paul Patton said, “We were a little annoyed with ourselves at only being up eight points against a team that hasn’t won a game all year and sits at the bottom of our league. The main reason for the close score was our poor outside shooting against their zone defense. We wanted to come out in the second half and execute our offensive actions better to get better shots.”

Sisters did just that in the third quarter. They made six two-point baskets and were four-for-six from the charity stripe, and held the Vikings to just one point. At the close of the period the Outlaws held a 36-13 advantage.

The Outlaws took their foot off the gas, and bench players got into the game for some well-earned minutes. Sisters held onto the lead and walked off the court with a 15-point win.

Patton said, “To be honest, we might not have given Siuslaw the respect we should have based on their record, and that notion that we’d beat them easily is probably why we got off to such a slow start to the game. It’s not the first time we’ve had a slow start and our challenge is to figure out how to kick start our intensity and execution at the opening tip.”

On Thursday, the Outlaws faced top ranked Pleasant Hill (PH) who entered the game at 4-0 in league and ranked No. 4 in the state.

The first quarter was a defensive battle. At the close of the first quarter the Outlaws trialed 4-5. In the second period the Billies picked up their defensive pressure to half court, and got some steals that they converted into breakaway lay-ins. They also got the ball inside to their strong post player, Claire Crawford, and those two factors allowed them to go on a run and score 15 points in the quarter. The Outlaws continued to miss shots and only made one basket the entire quarter. At the half Sisters was down 6-20.

At halftime Patton talked with his team about taking better care of the ball, moving the ball quicker on offense, and doing a better job on the boards. In the third period they cut down their turnovers, played solid defense, and held the Billies to eight points, and put up five points of their own.

Sisters actually won the final quarter, 9-8, but it was a little too late and the Billies recorded the win.

Top scorers for the Outlaws were Reid with seven and Jenna Lake with six.

“For three out of the four quarters we played the fourth-ranked team in the state pretty evenly.” Patton said. On Saturday the Outlaws hammered the Hawks and walked off the court with an easy win.

Lake had her best game of the season, scoring a team-leading 14 points, which included a three-pointer in all four quarters. Lutz was also dialed in from behind the arc and hit four long balls in the game. Reid scored in all four quarters and finished the night with 11 points. Thorsett scored seven, and Corcoran and Cotner added six points each.

Patton said, “I told the team I was pleased they came out and took care of business against a team we were far better than, which we had failed to do on the road at Siuslaw earlier in the week. I was also proud of them for using the game to get better at things that will help us against better teams.”

The Outlaws were scheduled to play at Elmira on Tuesday, January 30. They will play at home against Siuslaw on Friday, and then get back on the road on Saturday at Creswell.