Cole's late three not enough as Raiders fall 36-35

After Katelin Cole's swished three pointer in the waning seconds of the Raiders battle with Kimball on Thursday night narrowed a four-point gap to one, Sidney still had a slim chance for victory.

But when Cody Rowley's near court-length pass just failed to click, the Kimball Longhorns (5-3) held on to a 36-35 win in a non-district game at Cabela's Athletic Facility in girls basketball action.

For the Raiders it was the first of an important three games in as many days. Friday night the Raiders are back on the Cabela's court to face District B6 leading Gering. On Saturday the Raiders take to the road to face another district opponent at McCook.

In what was a tight game from the opening tip, neither the Raiders or Longhonrns were ever able to gain much breathing room. Kimball's largest lead of the game was 6 points, which they held for just 15 seconds. The Raiders biggest advantage was 3 points, which they held several times.

"Maybe some of us underestimated them a little because we've been able to beat them in previous years," said Sidney center Abbi Porter. "But they're a very good team. They showed that tonight."

The Raiders entered the final quarter with a single point advantage at 29-28. But the Longhorns quickly took an advantage they would never again surrender. With two jump shots leading to a personal 5-point run by Danika Daum, Kimball grabbed a 32-28 lead just 1:05 into the final frame.

Maddie Stafford replied by draining a pair of free throws to bring Sidney back within two at 32-30, but the Raiders were never as close again until Cole's three in the waning seconds.

Stafford's shots were followed by a 4-point surge by Kimball's Shelby Vogel, which was only interupted by a Sarah Mahr layup. The end of Vogel's run, a free throw on the front end of a one-and-one, gave the visitors a 36-32 lead with 27.9 seconds left.

After Cole's three with 8.6 seconds remaining the Longhorns had two opportunities at the free-throw line. But both times they missed the front end of a one-and-one. After the second miss Sidney Head Coach Tyler Shaw called timeout with 3.7 ticks left.

"We had Sarah (Mahr) and Kate (Cole) running up the sidelines and I was supposed to hit whoever was open first," said Rowley who made the inbounds pass from the Sidney baseline. "It was pretty close. I think we might of had it if somebody could have grabbed it under the basket. But with only three seconds left we didn't have a lot of options."

Rowley's pass to Mahr was a near strike but was barely tipped by a Kimball defender, after which time expired.

The Raiders took an early lead when Mahr opened the scoring with a three pointer early in the first quarter. Sidney's last lead of the opening eight minutes came after Porter returned a missed free throw by Savanna Rosenbaum. But Daum and Kelly Green ended the quarter with a pair of buckets to give the visitors a 12-8 lead.

With 7:34 left in the second period, Vogel took a long pass from Daum and dropped in a layup for Kimball's short lived 6-point advantage. In fact the Raiders erased the 6-point deficit and turned it into a 3-point advantage at 17-14 with an impressive 9-0 run.

A Cole three began the surge, which was followed by layups from Sarah Mahr, Emily Mahr and Porter.

Kimball's Green put a stop to the run with a tying three of her own. The game was then knotted three more times in the waning minutes of the half before Cole ended it with a buzzer beating trey for a 24-21 lead.

The third quarter was the quietest eight minutes of the night for both teams. Rowley provided a home highlight when she made a steal in the Raiders offensive zone and turned it back up for two points. Cole converted a layup while being fouled to end the third quarter for a 28-27 Sidney lead.

"We might have thought too much instead of just playing basketball," said Ashley Stafford. "But this is over. Now we have to be ready to play tomorrow against a good Gering team."

The tipoff against Gering is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the high school.

Girls Basketball

Kimball 36

Sidney 35