Cabela’s Holiday Shootout

If the Sidney High School girls basketball team is looking for a blueprint on how to conduct business in the second half of the season, it got a pretty good lesson Saturday afternoon.

Douglas, Wyo., the top-ranked Class 3A squad in the Cowboy State, put on a defensive clinic in the championship game of the Cabela’s Holiday Shootout, stifling the Lady Raiders’ offense in a 51-32 victory.

Sidney (7-2), which takes pride in its own defensive schemes, had but one lead in this affair, that being 8-6, courtesy of a 3-point basket from Katelin Cole out of the right corner with 3:27 showing in the opening quarter. SHS was able to carry that slim advantage into the second period.

After Sidney’s Karissa Segelke missed a pair of free throws to open the frame, Douglas’ Jessie Underberg hit a 3-pointer, putting the Lady Bearcats up for good. A second basket by Cole at the 2:59 mark allowed Sidney to hang around at 14-12, but that’s when the bottom fell out for Tyler Shaw’s club.

Not only did Douglas run off the final five points of the half to seize a 19-12 command at intermisson, it also went on a 20-1 blitz in the third quarter to put the game out of reach, 34-13.

Sidney did not manage another basket until Segelke put together successive scores, snapping a 9 minute, 13 second drought.

“In the first half, we didn’t play all that great,” Douglas coach Jaci Heny said. “We were letting Sidney bring the ball up the floor. After that, we put more pressure on them and that led to some fast-break opportunities for us.”

To boot, Bearcats center Carlie Edelman-Cecil began asserting herself in the lane, scoring at will inside.

“Once we were able to get Cecil the ball inside,” she dominated,” Heny said.

Despite some foul trouble, Cecil scored eight points in the third period, and teammate Molly Kreycik created problems for SHS’s ball handlers, coming up with steals and layups.

“Douglas did a real good job pressuring us and with denying the first pass,” Shaw said. “During their (20-1) run, we were lucky to get a shot off, and if we did, it wasn’t a great shot.”

By the third stop, Douglas (12-0) had complete control, 49-17.

Sidney, playing short-handed – Abbi Porter was home sick and Segelke was saddled with two first-quarter personal fouls — managed to get the offense going in the final quarter, but Douglas hit enough of its foul shots to maintain a comfortable lead.

Cecil scored 17 points, Kreycik 14 for Douglas, while Segelke put in 11 and Sarah Mahr nine for the Raiders.

“We just couldn’t recover from that surge,” Shaw said. “The way Douglas plays defense, that’s how we apsire to play. It was a good learning experience to play this team.”

Sidney is now 7-2, with its losses coming to two state-ranked teams (Chadron is 10-1 in Nebraska Class C) with a combined record of 22-1.

SHS will travel to Gering Friday night before hosting McCook Saturday. Gering captured the CHS consolation game Saturday, and McCook is 10-2.

“Both our opponents this weekend are playing well,” Shaw said. “As for us, we’re going to have to start learning how to handle pressure better in the front court.”

Girls championship game

Douglas (Wyo.) 51, Sidney 32

Douglas 6 13 20 12-51

Sidney 8 4 5 15-32

DOUGLAS (12-0)

Edelman-Cecil 7 3-4 17, Kreycik 5 4-5 14, Scott 1 5-8 7, Townsend 2 0-1 4, Underberg 1 0-0 3, Steele 0 2-2 2, Hiser 1 0-0 2, Espeland 0 1-2 1, Boe 0 1-2 1. Totals 17 16-24 51

SIDNEY (7-2)

Mahr 4 1-2 9, Krueger 1 0-0 3, Segelke 4 3-7 11, Cole 3 0-0 7, Rowley 0 2-2 2, Price 0 0-0 0, Malzahn 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 6-11 32

3-point goals – Douglas (Underberg), Sidney 2 (Krueger, Cole). Team fouls – Douglas 10, Sidney 16.