Lady Raiders manage to slip past Alliance

ALLIANCE — Even when things were falling apart Thursday night, the Sidney High School Lady Raiders didn’t lose sight of two key marching orders: keep playing defense, and whenever possible, get the ball to the best option.

SHS followed those rules to the very end, and for that, was able to escape Alliance with a 32-31 Western Conference win.

Finding every which way to lose a double-digit lead — be it through poor foul shooting or sloppy ball-handling — the Raiders (4-1, 1-0) got out of town with a victory when Madi Malzahn intercepted a Lady Bulldogs’ pass and got the ball to Karissa Segelke for the go-ahead score with 15.2 seconds remaining.

Sidney, in the final minute, had four cracks at tying the game after Alliane’s Rylee Trout had given her team the lead with a steal and layup against Segelke.

The best SHS could do was get one of two foul shots from Jeni Herren with 29 seconds remaining. Herren missed the second shot, and as Alliance’s Shae Brennan was pressured bringing the ball up the floor, she lofted a high pass down the floor, which Malzahn intercepted.

Malzahn hurried into the front court, spotted Segelke on the left side for a 12-footer that fell through. Sidney then survived a last-second 3-point misfire by Trout to hang on.

“We kinda lucked out there,” SHS coach Tyler Shaw said. “We happened to be in desperation mode and got a couple of quick turnovers that led to a point, and then the shot by Karissa.”

Sidney seemed to have things going its own way, shutting out Alliance to the tune of a 6-0 lead after one quarter. The Bulldogs cut the lead to three points just before halftime, before SHS junior Katelin Cole hit a 3-pointer from the right wing as Sidney maintained its six-point lead at intermission, 14-8.

Two free throws from Sarah Mahr gave Sidney a 21-10 command with 6:36 left in the third period, but it was the foul line — where the Lady Raiders made just 6 of 20 tries — that cost Shaw’s team a chance to pad the lead.

Sidney ended the third frame the way it did the first half, with a 3-point basket (Sarah Krueger) that stretched the advantage to 26-17.

However, Alliance began forcing turnovers and Sidney couldn’t make its fourth-quarter free throws (just 1 of 8), providing the perfect storm for a Bulldogs’ comeback.

The hosts managed to tie the game at 29-all with 1:22 remaining courtesy of a steal and three-point play by Morgan Anthony. Fourteen seconds later, Trout pick-pocketed Segelke near the center line and went the distance to make it 31-29.

At that point, SHS’s lone fourth-quarter point production came by way of Krueger’s second trey, and things didn’t look bright when Mahr missed a free throw and a layup prior to an off-target 3-point try from Malzahn.

Trout was fouled after rebounding Malzahn’s missed triple, but couldn’t hit the front end of the bonus at 30.3 seconds. Heeren was also fouled while grabbing Trout’s miss, but she could only hit one of two foul attempts.

That led to Alliance rebounding and Brennan — playing in her first game since injuring her knee against SHS in the Nov. 30 WC tournament semifinals — trying to beat Sidney’s pressure, which led to Malzahn’s steal and pass to Segelke. The game-winning shot was only the second basket of the night for Segelke, who finished with just four points.

“Malzahn was in the right place and read (Brennan’s) eyes,” Shaw said.

Despite making just 6 of 20 foul shots, getting just four points from its leading scorer and committing numerous turnovers late, Shaw said his team was in need of a little luck, and got it.

“You’re going to be very fortunate to win games shooting six of 20 at the free-throw line,” Shaw said, “so we’re going to have to find something some confidence at the foul line. We can’t hide from it.

“We threw too many weak bounce passes at the top of the key, and those things always get picked off, left and right, and we are going to have to be sharper with the ball. We felt this thing slipping away, but we had to stay in and battle to give ourselves a chance.

“Karissa had a tough night. (Alliance) sagged off on her and made getting entry passes to her tough. With people around her all the time, we’re going to have to find different ways to get her the basketball,” Shaw added.

In a final warmup prior to next week’s Cabela’s Holiday Tournament, SHS plays host to Perkins County this evening.

SHS 32, Alliance 31

SHS 6 8 12 6—32

Alliance 0 8 9 14—31

SHS (4-1, 1-0)

Porter 1 2-2 4, Mahr 1 2-5 4, Krueger 3 0-0 8, Malzahn 2 0-2 5, Segelke 2 0-3 4, Cole 1 0-0 3, Price 0 0-2 0, Heeren 1 2-6 4. Totals 11 6-20 32

ALLIANCE (3-3, 0-2)

Conley 1 0-0 2, Anthony 2 3-5 7, DBrennan 2 0-0 4, Halouska 1 0-0 3, SBrennan 4 2-4 10, Trout 1 1-4 3, Vogel 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 6-13 31

3-point field goals: SHS 4 (Krueger 2, Malzahn, Cole), Alliance 1 (Halouska). Team fouls: SHS 14, Alliance 18