By Jeremy McDonald
jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
STAYTON, Ore.– It is getting to that crunch time of the year for teams.
The Eagles won their fourth-game in-a-row Tuesday over Sisters 40-24 on Senior Night, setting up a crucial match-up with rival Cascade Tuesday in Turner for a possibility to tie for second-place in the Oregon West Conference.
“Cascade, they’re a very good team. They work really hard and I’m really excited to play them again and give them another shot,” said KJ Nyquist. “We just got to play our game and believe in our system and work with our system and I think we’ll be fine.”
When the two teams met January 31, the Eagles were out of their element with foul trouble playing without Nyquist, who scored 17 points Tuesday night, and were without the Tyler Sisters as the Cougars eked out a 61-60 Overtime win that night.
Tuesday’s game had Stayton in control throughout their 16-point win for their 16th win of the year. The Eagles led 21-12 at the halftime break before coming to life in the third quarter, pushing their lead to 31-19 six minutes into the second half, while pacing their lead for the remainder of the game in preparation for the final push for the postseason.
“It’s a really exciting time of year, it’s kind of the final stretch in our season. We’re going to work hard in practice every day and we’re going to get better every day,” said Nyquist.
Emma Lutz and RylieReece Morgan each scored seven points for the Outlaws in the game. Karlee Tyler scored ten for Stayton while Emma Storey, the Eagles other Senior, scored three points in the win.
