Harvey comes through at the end

Perhaps among a few fans, some doubts were cast about Lane Harvey’s ability to deliver in the clutch.

Not any more.

The Sidney High School sophomore point guard, with time ticking down — and his Raiders trailing Alliance by a pair of points late Friday night at Cabela’s Athletic Facility — was fouled while launching a 3-point attempt in front of the SHS bench.

With .9 seconds remaining, Harvey went to the line and buried all three shots, enabling Erik Kohl’s club to eke out a 61-60 victory against an upset-minded Bulldogs’ squad.

Harvey’s tosses gave Sidney (15-7) a win that looked all but elusive in the team’s final regular season game.

At the time Harvey walked to the line, it wasn’t the best of times for SHS, which had knocked down just one of its first seven free throws.

“Those were some big shots from Lane,” Kohl said. “The crazy thing was, that probably wasn’t the spot we wanted to be in, having made just one free throw to that point.

“The thing that is frustrating is that we have worked so hard on free throws the past few weeks in practice. We play a pressure free-throw game in practice, and when we lose that game, they run a lot of lines.

“The kids don’t like running lines, so we typically make some of these tough-situation practice free throws. We see those things in practice, but not in the game,” Kohl said.

Sidney simply did not play a strong defensive game, as Kohl has designs on limiting the opposition to multiple quarters of 10 points or less. That math didn’t work out against Alliance (9-13), which led most of the game, and at one point enjoyed an 11-point lead late in the third quarter.

Alliance had plenty of balance, getting 11 points each from Ryan Romick, Isaac Burnham, Trevor Kamerzell and sophomore Jordan Mills.

A 3-pointer from Kamerzell afforded Alliance a 47-36 lead at 3:07 of the third period,and even though Sidney did make some moves, the Bulldogs were able to maintain the lead all the way to the very end.

The advantage was seven points, 58-51, at 2:41 on a pair of Burnham foul shots, but Sidney began getting results from some of its defensive pressure.

A Paxton Ehler steal turned into a Harvey 3-pointer, and the Raiders were within 58-56 with 1:40 showing.

Alliance struggled with its foul shooting in the closing seconds. Ahead 59-58, Burnham made one foul shot after grabbing a Harvey air ball at 9.9 seconds.

Sidney drove down the floor, and Harvey forced a shot up from the right wing, and then fell down as he was fouled by the Bulldogs’ Kamerzell, who was in disbelief about the call.

Harvey then knocked down all three free throws and the Raiders had escaped despite allowing an average of 15 points a frame.

“We have to be better defensively,” Kohl said, “and just because Alliance made shots and did things well, that doesn’t mean that every point that they made was hard work on their side.

“We have to clean some things up, because we aren’t going to be able to get 11 points down against the likes of McCook or Scottsbluff (next week’s likely foes in the B-6 District at Western Nebraska Community College.

“We have to get better on defense, for sure,” a relieved Kohl said.

Ehler scored 15 points and Casey Mabey added 11 (before fouling out). Harvey added eight.

“Alliance? Give them credit; they made us work offensively,” Kohl said. “We rushed a few shots, and we have to get back to the dirty work and get better on offense.”

Kohl also credited the home crowd for getting behind his team during white-knuckle time.

“Tonight, the crowd was great and was loud when they get behind us late,”Kohl said. “It makes a difference; it’s great.”

Sidney will await the announcement of seeds for next week’s Scottsbluff District. Sidney is an almost-certain three seed, with Scottsbluff and McCook to learn their respective seeds after this weekend’s contests.

Seeds will be announced Tuesday, Kohl said, with the rat-tail game to be played next Saturday at WNCC, semifinals Feb. 25 and the title game Feb. 26/

Sidney 61, Alliance 60

ALLIANCE (9-13)

Romick 2 7-8 11, Burnham 3 5-7 11, Kamerzell 4 1-2 11, Mills 4 0-0 11, Matulka 3 2-2 8, Lehl 3 0-1 6, SDuBray 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 15-20 60

SIDNEY (15-7)

Ehler 6 0-0 15, Mabey 5 0-2 11, Harvey 2 3-3 8, Vowers 3 1-3 7, Lewis 3 0-1 6, Arterburn 0 0-0 0, Rosenbaum 2 0-0 4, Herren 3 0-1 6, Castner 2 0-0 4. Totals 26 4-10 61

Alliance 20 15 14 11—60

Sidney 12 20 10 19—61

3-point goals — Alliance 5 (Mills 3, Kamerzell 2), Sidney 5 (Ehler 3, Harvey, Mabey). Team fouls — Alliance 12, Sidney 18. Fouled out — Mabey.