Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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Just a few more days and the calendar gets turned over to February. It may be too early to start thinking about spring, even though the mercury climbed past 70 earlier this week. But February reminds us that the winter sports season is fast heading towards it's dramatic conclusion. There are just 15 days until the competition begins at district wrestling in Chadron. Three days later the girls of class D basketball get started with subdistricts and the boys a week later. Before President's Day...
POTTER – After a busy week that culminated in a MAC championship last Saturday, the Potter-Dix Lady Coyotes just might be dog tired. Despite their busy schedule of late, the Coyotes found enough wind to fight a talented Pine Bluffs (Wyo.) Hornets team to the bitter end Tuesday night before dropping just their third game of the season (12-3). The Hornets (11-1) turned back the Coyotes 44-38 in a non-district matchup in Potter Tuesday night. With a pressure defense that forced the home Coyotes i...
POTTER – With a talented sophomore center getting much of the attention for the Pine Bluffs High boys' basketball squad, the Potter-Dix Coyotes found out the Hornets are more than a team with just one stinger. Though they managed to stay toe to toe with the Hornets throughout several portions of the game, a dominating second quarter doomed the Coyotes chances in a 73-51 loss in a non-district contest at Potter on Tuesday night. The Hornets improved to 11-1, while the Coyotes slipped to 5-10. T...
The Sidney High Red Raiders' freshman boys' basketball team didn't take long before sending the message that they intended to keep its perfect record intact. The Raiders stormed out of the gate at the Cabela's Athletic Facility on Monday night and cruised to a 55-34 win over the Alliance Bulldogs. The Raiders won their ninth game against no losses this season despite the absence of three players usually at their service. Jake Burke and Mitch Porter, who also play with the varsity and junior...
The Sidney High Lady Raiders' freshman basketball team continued its outstanding season Monday with a 38-26 win over the Lady Bulldogs of Alliance at the Cabela's Athletic Facility. The win advanced the Raiders' record to 8-1. Sidney was led in scoring by Christina Gay with eight points. A trio of Raiders disturbed the twine for five points, including Emily Secrest, Carissa Radtke and Ashlyn Christian. Marque Crowe was the top scorer for Alliance as she matched Gay's eight points. "I'm very...
In front of a packed and raucous crowd at Cabela's Athletic Facility, the Sidney High boys' basketball team worked together to earn their biggest win of the season, 65-58, over the Scottsbluff Bearcats on Friday night. Sidney (13-2, 4-1) continued its perfection since New Years with its eighth consecutive win. For the Raiders, the win was not only critical to keeping pace with Scottsbluff in the district race, it was also a statement game. The Bearcats had defeated the Raiders earlier this...
Though the top prize had already escaped their grasps, the Leyton Warriors and Potter-Dix Coyotes still had a long-standing rivalry to settle. Though the Warriors couldn’t defend their MAC title of a year ago, they took the upper hand in their long-standing rivalry with the Coyotes with a 59-50 triumph in the boys’ consolation game Saturday at Sidney Middle School. The Coyotes (6-8) gave their rivals all they could handle throughout much of the contest before the Warriors (7-7) began to pull away in the second half. After 16 minutes of pla...
By dethroning reigning champion Leyton, the Potter-Dix girls' basketball team realized a season-long goal Saturday by winning the MAC championship at Sidney Middle School. Though much of the game was closely contested, the Coyotes dominated the second quarter on its way to the 40-32 win. The Coyotes are now 12-2 on the season while the Warriors stand at 6-8. With the MAC title wrapped up securely, the Coyotes can now focus on fighting their way to a District D1 District 12 championship. "This...
After Allie Blackwelder’s short jumper gave the Creek Valley Storm an early lead in the opening moments of the girls’ MAC consolation game, it was all down hill from there. With a consistent effort from start-to-finish, the Bayard Tigers topped the Storm 44-29 to earn third place at MAC. The Storm’s record fell to 5-8 while the Tigers advanced to 6-9. After Blackwelder gave her team an early lead, the Tigers ran off seven straight points to take the lead for good. But Creek Valley was still very much in the contest after the first quart...
The Bayard High boys' basketball team clawed its way back from a nine-point, first-half deficit to turn away Leyton's attempt at back-to-back MAC championships at Sidney Middle School on Thursday night. While Leyton had the upper hand throughout most of the first half, the game was razor close much of the second as Bayard took home the 58-56 win. The No. 3 seed Warriors record slipped to 7-6, while No. 2 Bayard advanced to 9-4. Leyton will be back to Sidney on Saturday to challenge the No. 5...
Though the fifth-seeded Potter-Dix High boys' team stayed with undefeated top-seeded Minatare in the first half, it eventually found themselves in the consolation round in the Minuteman Activities Conference Tournament. With strong second half, the Indians (11-0) reached the championship game with a 56-42 win over the Coyotes (5-8) at Sidney Middle School Thursday night. Minatare will meet the Bayard Tigers for the championship on Saturday at 8 p.m. The Tigers snuck past the Leyton Warriors,...
Second-seeded Leyton High earned the right to defend its MAC Tournament championship Thursday night as the Lady Warriors snuck past the Creek Valley Storm 52-48 at Sidney Middle School. For the Storm (5-7), it was the second straight season its MAC hopes were dashed by Leyton (6-7) in the semifinals. Last season, Creek Valley came in as the top seed while coming into the 2015 tournament as No. 3. Leyton will meet the other semifinal winner Potter-Dix on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. for the...
Though the Bayard High School Lady Tigers gave Potter-Dix little trouble in their previous meeting earlier this month, the Cats nearly clawed their way to an upset victory in the rematch. But the top-seeded Lady Coyotes (11-2) survived the scare to prevail over No. 4 Bayard (5-9) 39-36 in the semifinal round of the Minuteman Activities Conference Tournament last night at Sidney Middle School. The win earned Potter-Dix a ticket into the championship game against the No. 2 Leyton Lady Warriors. Le...
I played softball with Craig Swan in the summer of 1986. Maybe you never heard of Swan, but he pitched in major leagues for about 10 years. As a national league hurler, he struck out a lot as a hitter – but he could smack the daylights out of softball. I haven’t crossed paths with too many famous athletes in my time, but they always seemed to be memories that stick with me. Funny how they never remember me though – even on the rare occasions when I have met one for a second time. On Friday night at 7, the Sidney High School boys’ basketb...
DALTON – For almost 11 minutes, it looked as though it would be a long, drawn-out struggle to see whether Leyton High or Creek Valley would advance to the semifinals of the 2015 Boys' MAC Tournament. But when the score reached 22-22 with about 5:40 left in the half Tuesday night, the Warriors' offensive depth began to turn the tide. Though facing stiff resistance early, the defending MAC champions and third-seeded Warriors went on to eliminate the No. 6 Storm 73-56 in Dalton. Leyton earned a t...
Sidney High School and Middle School will be the host to several big sports events this week. At the high school, Red Raiders wrestling action takes center stage at the Cabela’s Athletic Facility on Thursday. The meet will feature a dual between the top two finishers from the Chase County Invite last week. Sidney, the meet winner at Imperial, will square off with runner-up Sedgwick County at 6:45 p.m. So far this season, Sidney has won nine duals without a loss. The high school matches will be preceded at 6 p.m. by several Sidney Wrestling F...
CHAPPELL – By being awarded a third seed in the 2015 MAC Tournament, the Creek Valley High girls' basketball team just may have the rest of the conference teams right where it wants them. Powered by a first-quarter offensive explosion, the Storm found little trouble on their way to a first-round victory over sixth-seeded South Platte with a 58-34 win at the Thunder Dome on Monday night. Last season, the top-seeded Storm were defeated by eventual champion Leyton in the semifinals. As the third s...
LEXINGTON – The Sidney Red Raiders maintained their perfect record in 2015 (6-0) with two more wins over non-district opponents over the weekend. Sidney first knocked off the Ogallala Indians (1-12) at the Cabela's Athletic Facility 66-41 before the toppling the Lexington Minutemen (2-11) on the road 80-64. The Raiders now stand at 12-2 overall. Despite not having enough fire power to stay with the Raiders, the Minutemen had a pair of talented scorers that challenged the Sidney defense from s...
LEXINGTON – The Sidney Lady Raiders extended their winning streak to five games over the weekend with a pair of victories over non-district opponents. The Raiders led much of the way against the Ogallala Indians (9-4) on Friday night at the Cabela’s Athletic Facility before they had to ward off a fourth-quarter comeback attempt in a 52-47 victory. On Saturday at Lexington (1-12), the Raiders also led much of the way. But when the Minutemaids rallied to seize the lead in the fourth quarter, it was the Raiders who had to mount a comeback to ear...
DALTON – With just a few days left before the Minuteman Activities Conference Tournament, the top-seeded Potter-Dix girls' team served notice its in top form. The Coyotes kept their strong season going with two more wins over the weekend to up their record to 9-2. On Friday the Coyotes turned back the MAC defending champion and local rival Leyton Warriors 51-43 in Dalton before returning home to finish off Hay Springs 37-29 on Saturday. The Warriors, who are seeded No. 2 in the MAC, saw their r...
DALTON – Despite a game that was competitive much of the way, the Leyton Warriors trailed for just 22 seconds on their way to a 54-39 victory over the Potter-Dix Coyotes in a non-district boys’ basketball contest on Friday night. The Warriors poked their heads above the .500 mark at 6-5 with the win. The Coyotes, meanwhile, recovered from the set back in Dalton with a 53-43 win over Hay Springs in Potter on Saturday and are now 4-7 on the campaign. Cameron Purcell, who scored the opening bucket of the game for Potter-Dix 34 seconds in, led the...
Energized by three weight-class wins and 10 top-four finishes, the Sidney Red Raiders proved best of the 16 teams that competed in the Chase County Invitational on Saturday. The Raiders first-place total of 209.5 points was 12 better that Sedgwick County's 197.5. Gordon Rushville (168.5), Bayard (143) and Bridgeport (133) rounded out the top five. The Raiders will meet second-place finisher Sedgwick County (Colo.) in a dual meet on Thursday in Julesburg. Leading the way for Sidney were Kaden...
In Sidney High School's wrestling dual with Bridgeport Thursday night, there were no distractions for the large group of spectators who showed up to watch the action at the Cabela's Athletic Facility. With just one mat where only one match played out at a time, there was no place for the wrestlers to hide. It was a night of one-on-one action and all eyes were on the center ring, much different than the invitationals the Red Raiders compete in when multiple matches are playing out...
Sidney High School senior Lane Harvey, a longtime middle infielder in the Sidney American Legion baseball program, has made a verbal commitment to play baseball and study at Indian Hills (Iowa) Community College in the fall. Harvey, also a standout football and basketball player for the Red Raiders, announced his intention to formally sign with the Falcons within the next few weeks. He has played six years in the Sidney Legion baseball program and faces his final year of eligibility in 2015....
While coaches are always insistent on their players taking it one game at a time, it’s not so for press and fans. We can look forward all we like. With that in mind, we can’t help but look ahead as the Minuteman Activities Conference and District tournaments creep ever closer. Now that we find ourselves at about the halfway mark of the 2014-15 season, using the term “big game” becomes ever more meaningful. There are several such contests on the hardwood in the coming week. With the MAC Tournament set to begin Monday, a possible preview of the...
