Winter sports kick in this weekend

While Sidney High School’s boys and girls basketball teams will open their respective seasons this evening at home in the first round of the Western Conference tournament, the balance of winter sports teams will get after it this weekend, with all five area schools’ boys and girls teams playing both Friday and Saturday evenings.

SHS plays Mitchell this evening at 5:30 p.m. (girls) and 7 p.m. (boys) at Cabela’s Athletic Facility.

If the Raiders win those contests, they will play in the championship semifinals Friday night at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff.

The Sidney-Mitchell winners are slated to take on the survivors of the boys-girls games between Skutt and Alliance.

Should either or both SHS teams lose today, they would play through the consolation bracket.

Those consolation bracker games would be played at Scottsbluff High School.

The final rounds in both divisions, including consolation, third-place and championship games, will be played Saturday at WNCC.

Gering-Torrington and Chadron-Scottsbluff are the lower-bracket contests in the WC opening round.

Sidney is coming off a pair of exhibition losses on Monday night at North Platte in the Hall of Fame games.

Two other tournaments — both four-team affairs with boys and girls brackets — are being played in the area.

Peetz (Colo.) will host tournaments, with the host Coyote girls and boys both meeting Lone Star Friday evening, at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., respectively.

Peetz’s squads, if successful, would play Saturday night, opposite the winner of Caliche/Fleming.

The losers in both boys and girls divisions would meet for the consolation title, also to be played Saturday.

Leyton’s Warriors teams will travel to Bayard for a boys-girls four-team tournaments.

Friday, Bridgeport will provide the opposition for both teams, the girls playing at 2:30 p.m. and the boys at 4 p.m.

The bottom bracket game in both divisions has Bayard taking on Lingle-Fort Laramie.

Friday’s winners will meet Saturday afternoon for the title.

As with the Peetz tournaments, the losers in both boys and girls divisions at Bayard would also meet for a consolation title Saturday.

In regular-season contests, Potter-Dix and Creek Valley will open with home and road games.

Friday, Potter-Dix will entertain Sedgwick County at 4 p.m., with junior varsity and varsity boys and girls contests, while Creek Valley goes to Hyannis Friday night.

Saturday, P-D plays at Banner County and CV will host Maxwell, beginning at noon.

Both of Creek Valley’s dates will be tripleheaders — there will be junior varsity girls only to go with girls and boys varsity matchups.

Wrestling also opens up with a busy schedule this weekend.

Sidney has a pair of road dates (Friday at Gothenburg and Saturday at Cozad), while Creek Valley debuts its wrestling program Saturday at Mullen.