Sidney ends tourney on strong note

Sidney split their final two games at the Cabela's Holiday Shootout over the weekend, finishing on a good note with a 41-38 victory over the Gothenburg Swedes (3-6) at the Sidney Middle School gym on Saturday morning.

On Friday the Raiders (5-3) third quarter offensive struggles were part of the story in their 39-26 defeat to the Hershey Panthers (9-1) at the same venue.

"We didn't have an easy run in this tournament but all-in-all these three days are going to make us a better team," said Raiders Head Coach Tyler Shaw after the win over Gothenburg. "As for today's game I'm happy with the results. Gothenburg is a team with some talented players."

Friday:

Slumps doom Sidney

After suffering their first loss of the season to Laramie the previous day, the Hershey Panthers looked to get back on track against the Raiders. But Katelin Cole had other ideas as she opened the scoring with a three pointer at the 6:39 mark of the first quarter.

As the opening quarter progressed Cole and Sarah Mahr were the offensive keys as the Raiders grabbed a slight edge at 10-9. The duo were responsible for all 10 Sidney points with 5 each.

Though Sidney remained within striking distance at halftime, offensive struggles set in during the middle two quarters. Ashley Stafford dropped in both ends of a one-and-one early in the second frame and Mahr finished off a hard drive to the basket with a layup later on, but 4 points was all the home team could manage.

"We just get into offensive slumps and it really costs us," said Cole. "It seems like every game we have a bad quarter. We have to find a way to focus for all four quarters."

Despite the offensive struggles of the second quarter, Sidney trailed by only four points (18-14) at the half as they continued to play solid defense. But any chance the Raiders had for the comeback were compromised further when the Raiders struggled even more in the third eight minutes.

Hershey scored the first 13 points of the quarter and were not answered until 1:30 was left. Savanna Rosenbaum took a feed from Cole under the basket to drop in the Raiders only 2 points of the third.

"We let down in the third quarter. We'll have to find a way to keep that from happening again," said Mahr.

Though Sidney recovered a better shooting touch in quarter four, the Panthers were already too far in front. Mahr got the Raiders going on a 5-0 run early in the frame with a baseline drive for two and a jumper for two more. Cody Rowley added the final point from the free-throw line. Rowley tacked on another two with a short turn-around-jumper and Cole finished the game with her second three pointer.

Mahr and Cole led the team in scoring against Hershey with 11 and 8 points respectively. Porter was a defensive force as she led the squad with 7 rebounds and 7 more blocks. Her 7 blocks left her just one short of her own school record set earlier this season. Mahr came in just behind Porter on the rebound sheet with 5.

Saturday:

Raiders rebound with win

The 4-point halftime deficit the Raiders faced on Friday got slighly worse on the following day as the Raiders found themselves trailing by 6 points against the Swedes of Gothenburg. But Sidney's third-quarter fortunes were a little different this time around.

Cole opened the quarter by swishing a three pointer from the left corner and Rowley soon followed with a put-back layup of her own miss. After being interrupted by Aryn Meisinger's layup, Abbi Porter and Mahr joined the comeback effort with a pair of buckets apiece. The Mahr two-pointer gave Sidney the lead for the first time since they led 7-6 after the first quarter of play.

"We didn't want to come out flat in the second half like we did the day before," said Rowley. "We just didn't want to have that same feeling like we did yesterday."

After the Raiders took the lead the two teams traded blows for the rest of the quarter. Regan Geiken responded to Mahr's lead changer with one of her own. Cole was then the answer to Geiken when she converted Rowley's pass into the hoop. The see-saw affair continued until the Raiders held a 30-28 lead after three periods.

Maddie Stafford provided an early spark for Sidney in the fourth quarter when she made a steal which she converted for 2 points. The Raiders 5-0 run to start the final eight minutes gave them a 7-point advantage.

The game got close again when Geiken scored 5 points in a 32-second span, but Sidney wrestled back control soon after. Though Sidney struggled from the free-throw line at times over the weekend, Maddie Stafford and Mahr responded to Geiken's mini run by each sinking the critical front end of a one-and-one. Mahr dropped in both.

The Raiders held a 6-point lead into the final seconds before the Swedes' Taylor Mroczek drained a meaningless three pointer.

"At halftime we talked about coming out in the second half with more urgency," Cole said. "We ran into a tough bracket and learned we still have a lot of improving to do."

Mahr and Cole again led the offensive effort with Mahr scoring 19 and Cole 8. Porter added 4 while Maddie Stafford and Rowley each contributed 3. Stafford led the abettors with 3 assists.

The Raiders 16 rebounds were spread out over seven players with Mahr and Rowley on top with 4 and 3, respectively.

Girls Basketball

Hershey 39

Sidney 26

Friday

Girls Basketball

Sidney 41

Gothenburg 38

Saturday