Some may see just the two losses for the Siuslaw Vikings girls basketball team at the recent Bulldog Invitational in Creswell.

Their coach, Aaron McNeill, sees a silver lining as big as any cloud.

"We are definitely doing a much better job giving ourselves scoring opportunities," McNeill said, following the team's second loss to the Monroe Dragons in as many weeks. "Once we take advantage of these opportunities, we will be even more competitive in terms of the score.

"After this weekend, I'm extremely pleased with our growth and progress moving forward."

Saturday, the Lady Vikings lost to the Dragons 39-12 in a bid for the tournament's consolation title. A week earlier, Siuslaw lost to Monroe 56-19 in the opener to the Harrisburg Booster Club Tournament.

"It was a definite improvement," McNeill said. "We were more competitive, executed our man offense as well as we have all season, and played solid defense. We created some great shot opportunities out of the flow of our offense but unfortunately, struggled to consistently hit shots.

"I'm extremely pleased with our execution and the number of shot opportunities we gave ourselves. We attacked the basket well and in doing so, earned quite a few free throw opportunities; unfortunately, we were only 4 of 13 from the line."

Baby steps perhaps, but at least steps in the right direction. That also was apparent in the tournament opener Friday against Sutherlin, ranked No. 1 in the OSAAtoday 3A coaches' poll.

"I'm really proud of the girls' efforts against Sutherlin as we continued to show improvement," McNeill said.

Siuslaw played Sutherlin to a 3-3 standoff after the first quarter, and trailed just 18-6 at halftime. Sutherlin went on to win, 47-9.

"We struggled again to hit our shots, otherwise the score would have been close to even at the half," McNeill said. "Sutherlin picked up the tempo in the second half, and we just couldn't keep up."

Siuslaw freshman Rhianna Lane, who was named to the all-tournament team, was a terror on defense.

"We played solid defense, led by Rhianna Lane's inside presence as she recorded double-digit steals by intercepting entry passes to their post," McNeill noted. "She had multiple pass deflections as well."

There also was good news on the junior-varsity level for the Lady Vikings.

"Our JV team earned their first win of the season, playing their best game of the year as they defeated Monroe JV 36-14," McNeill said. "It was truly a team effort with balanced scoring and solid defense."

Three freshmen led in scoring, Macy McNeill with 10 and Claire Lindell and Jolee Erickson with 8 each.

Erickson was selected to the all-tournament JV team.

SIUSLAW STATISTICS

vs. Sutherlin
Scoring: Gracie Perkins 3, Mya Smith 2, Rhianna Lane 2, Jane Lacouture 1, Denali Sleeper 1.
Rebound leaders: Cate Waggoner 4, Rhianna Lane 3, Jane Lacouture 3.

vs. Monroe
Scoring: Jane Lacouture 6, Haylee Cole 4, Gracie Perkins 2.
Rebound leaders: Haylee Cole 6, Mya Smith 5, Rhianna Lane 4.

SCHEDULE
Record: 0-9 overall, 0-0 Sky-Em League
Dec. 1 — Bandon 47, at Siuslaw 7
Dec. 3 — at Newport 52, Siuslaw 2
Dec. 6 — at North Bend 46, Siuslaw 14
Dec. 8 — at Pleasant Hill 51, Siuslaw 10
Dec. 10 — Monroe 56, Siuslaw 19, at Harrisburg Tournament
Dec. 11 — Blanchet Catholic 36, Siuslaw 16, at Harrisburg Tournament
Dec. 14 — Newport 45, at Siuslaw 14
Dec. 17 — Sutherlin 47, Siuslaw 9, at Creswell Tournament
Dec. 18  — Monroe 39, Siuslaw 12, at Creswell Tournament
Tuesday, Dec. 21 — Pleasant Hill, 5:45 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 28 — vs. Thurston, 3:30 p.m., at Newport Tournament
Wednesday, Dec. 29 — at Newport Tournament
Friday, Jan. 7 — Sky-Em/Skyline Crossover at Glenn Butler Court, Siuslaw
Saturday, Jan. 8 — Sky-Em/Skyline Crossover at Glenn Butler Court, Siuslaw
Friday, Jan. 14 — at Marist, 7:15 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 18 — at Marshfield, 7:15 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 21 — Elmira, 7:15 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 25 — at Junction City, 7:15 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 28 — Cottage Grove, 7:15 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 4 — Marist, 5:45 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 8 — Marshfield, 5:45 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 11 — at Elmira, 5:45 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 15 — Junction City, 5:45 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 18 — at Cottage Grove, 5:45 p.m.

VARSITY ROSTER
  0 Rhianna Lane, freshman, center, 6-0
  2 Abby Riggs, freshman, guard, 5-4
  3 Cate Waggoner, sophomore, guard, 5-2 
  4 Jane Lacouture, sophomore, guard, 5-7, co-captain
  5 Jolee Erickson, freshman, guard, 5-5
11 Denali Sleeper, senior, forward, 5-7
12 Claire Lindell, freshman, guard-forward, 5-5
13 Haylee Cole, senior, guard-forward, 5-6, co-captain
14 Mya Smith, sophomore, guard, 5-3
23 Gillian Norton, junior, center, 6-0 
25 Gracie Perkins, senior, guard, 5-5
33 Macy McNeill, freshman, guard, 5-3
Coach: Aaron McNeill
Assistant: Sara Truax

JV ROSTER
  2 Abby Riggs, freshman, guard, 5-4
  3 Macy McNeill, freshman, guard, 5-3
  4 Madison Carnahan, sophomore, forward-center, 5-11
  5 Jolee Erickson, freshman, guard, 5-5
11 Claire Lindell, freshman, guard-forward, 5-5
12 Jordyn Breeden, freshman, guard, 5-1
14 Mary Fontenot, junior, forward, 5-6
22 Dakoda Baker-Smith, sophomore, guard, 5-3
23 Makayla Bender, guard, ninth, 5-5
24 Gillian Norton, junior, center, 6-0
30 Meilani Montano, freshman, guard-forward, 5-4
Coach: Sara Truax