Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Sidney High School girls basketball coach Tyler Shaw stresses defense, and the Lady Raiders were once again spreading the message.
Locking down Mitchell with a brutal trapping scheme, SHS stormed to a double-digit lead early, and drilled the Lady Tigers 53-25 Thursday night in the first round of the Western Conference tournament at Cabela’s Athletic Facility.
“We put a big emphasis on defense,” Shaw said of his team’s regular-season opener. “We came out and set the tone in the first quarter. We got complacent in the second half, but we still played hard.”
Karissa Segelke scored 10 of her game-high 14 points in the first half, that saw Shaw use 11 players.
“We played 11 and tried to sub and keep things even,” Shaw said. Our starters were able to play a little more than the others, but the thing is to keep people fresh. We have to play three nights in a row in this tournament, and at the start of the year, that can be tough.”
SHS (1-0) led 17-2 heading into the second period, and the lead snowballed throughout.
A Rachel Petik basket just before the half gave the Raiders a 30-9 cushion heading into the third period, and Mitchell didn’t crack double figures as a team until the 3:59 mark. By then, SHS was up 36-12.
Madi Malzahn knocked down a 3-pointer and Jeni Heeren scored on a runner to punch the Sidney lead to 43-12 at the third stop.
Malzahn just missed double digits with nine points— all coming on 3-point baskets — as did Morgan Linneman. Sarah Mahr added a half-dozen.
“Everyone who came in did good things for us,” Shaw said.
The lone black mark on the evening was the condition of junior reserve Katelin Cole, who landed opn the floor hard in the first half and had to leave the game with a swollen elbow.
Shaw said Cole sustained a possible hyperextension of the elbow, and is likely out for a week.
Sidney met Alliance at 3:30 p.m. today in a semifinal contest at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff.
“Alliance is a solid team with senior starters,” Shaw said. “We will have our hands full.”
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