Freshmen Raiders ride past Kimball, advance their record to 3-0

The Sidney freshmen girls team continued their strong early season play, toppling the Kimball Longhorns 57-13 at the Cabela's Athletic Facility Monday evening.

For the Raiders it was their third win in as many games. Last week Sidney went 2-0 in a tournament at MItchell, which included a one-point victory over Chadron (24-23) and a blowout win over Scottsbluff.

"This is a good group of girls we have here and we've had a nice week," said Raiders Coach Dan Dorwart. "Sometimes we have games when we can do this but we can't get complacent. Because then, of course, we have games like we did with Chadron."

The Raiders earned the win through a balanced attack, with Annalise Lecher and Maddie Porter leading the way, notching 17 and 14 points, respectively. Also figuring prominently on the scoresheet were Abbey Mills with 10, Kelsey Knight with 6 and Abbie Fraas with 5.

Porter was the first to register a bucket for Sidney when she scooped in a lay up 30 seconds into the game. Porter dropped the two pointer despite being fouled. Though Porter's attempt at a three-point play bounded off the rim, it was one of the few things to go wrong for the Raiders during the game.

Sidney extended their lead by scoring the first 7 points of the game. Porter added another lay up after Lecher sank a foul shot for a 5-0 lead. The 7-point run was capped off when Lecher grabbed the rebound of a missed free throw and put it back up for two.

"This is basically the same team we've been playing with in travel ball, so we work pretty well together," Lecher said. "Despite the score it seemed like we started off a little rough."

No matter the Raiders "rough start"--they advanced their lead to 11-4 after Jolene Oliverius sank a late first-quarter shot.

Sidney kept up the pressure in the second frame by scoring the first 6 points on hoops from Porter, Knight and Mills.

Knight ended the first-half scoring by making a nice steal in the defensive end and returned it the other way for a driving lay up. The Knight hoop gave Sidney a 21-9 lead at the half.

"Most of us have been playing together since we were in third grade," said Mills. "We're like a family. These girls are like sisters to me so I think that's why we play so well together."

The family unity really came together in the second half, as Sidney scored the first 14 points. During the third quarter Mills and Lecher led the offensive charge with 6 points each.

Despite their struggles, Kimball kept fighting until the end. The Longhorns Shauntae Daily opened the final eight minutes with a nice jumper from the left side.

But Sidney's size and experience proved too much for the visitors. Lecher answered Daily with a three-point play on her way to an 8 point quarter.

The freshmen girls are back in action again next Monday when they host Alliance in Sidney at 4 p.m.

Girls Basketball

Sidney 57

Kimball 13