Sidney rolls over Longhorns

Phase one of the Sidney Red Raiders challenging three-day mission was a rousing success, as the boys turned back the Kimball Longhorns 63-45 in a non-district basketball game Thursday night.

Facing a team with one of the most gifted players in the state, the Raiders held the Longhorns' 6-10 center Mike Daum to his average 22 points on their way to victory at the Cabela's Athletic Facility.

While the Raiders focused their defensive attention on Daum - at times triple teaming him - the Longhorns countered by focusing plenty of attention on the Raiders' talented guard Paxton Ehler. Rather than forcing shots against the Longhorns defensive presence, however, Ehler contented himself much of the night by dishing the ball off to open teammates.

In addition to Daum, the Longhorns featured another dangerous player in 6-3 Jake Reader. Like Daum, he equalled his season average of 15 points. But Kimball managed to get just 8 points from the rest of their squad as the Sidney defense clamped down on the big center's supporting cast.

Meanwhile the balanced Raiders' attack ultimately overwhelmed the visitors. Seven Raiders lit the scoreboard, with Tyler Wintholz leading the way, tallying a season high 18 points.

Ehler followed with 13 points while Lucas Rosenbaum and Cutter O'Connell each added 9.

Logan Lewis, who was the primary defensive weapon against Daum, added 8 points. Lane Harvey (4) and Jake Sager (2) were the other twine benders for Sidney.

The energy of Wintholz proved beneficial right from the get-go as he helped the Raiders establish an early 10-4 lead. Sidney scored 10 straight after Longhorns christened the game with the first two buckets.

Four points each from Lewis and Wintholz and a couple more from Harvey accounted for the run. Wintholz's second hoop followed a nice spin move under the basket. The Lewis buckets came as many of his do - offensive rebounds returned for two.

"I've been playing really tight lately and tonight I just wanted to be loose and let it go," said Wintholz.

While Sidney scored 10 unanswered points in the middle of the first quarter, the Longhorns had all the answers to start and finish the frame. Daum dropped in his first two by following up his own miss from underneath. Daum also finished the frame with a bucket while Reader completed a three-point play in between. The Kimball 7-point outburst gave the visitors an 11-10 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

Though the Daum-Reader duo hooked up on the first bucket of the second quarter, the Raiders soon captured a lead which they would hold until the final buzzer.

Nineteen seconds into the second quarter, Daum fed Reader underneath for a 13-10 Longhorns lead. Just 20 seconds later, however, Ehler fed Lewis for important Raiders' points. He followed up the assist by driving hard to the rim for another score.

The Ehler drive gave Sidney its last come-from-behind points of the game.

Wintholz followed Ehler's shot with 4 straight points, the first coming on an alert inbounds pass from Rosenbaum. Daum responded with 6 points for the Longhorns, but his streak was interupted when Rosenbaum converted a pass from Ehler. While Daum's second of bucket of his mini run brought Kimball to within one at 18-17, the Raiders finished out the half with a 14-3 surge.

Ehler's buzzer-beating trey ended the first 16 minutes.

"I got most of my points around the basket with layups or when getting fouled in close," said Rosenbaum who also had occasions to guard Daum. "We practiced with Coach (Erik Kohl) playing the part of Daum and we worked on doubling down on him."

The Raiders added just one more point to their lead in quarter three. O'Connell, who was perfect from behind the arc in three attempts, gave Sidney its largest lead of the quarter when he drained one with just over a minute left. For O'Connell, his three-point shots have been falling through the net with great regularity over the past several games.

"I'm just practicing a lot and listening to my coaches," said O'Connell. "My teammates have given me the ball in such open spots it's hard to miss when you're that wide open. Like Coach says, 'set your feet and shoot' and you'll make your shots."

While Ehler had contented himself as an abettor of the Raiders scoring attack much of the game, he took on a more primary role opening the final quarter. He first sank 2 of 3 foul shots after being hacked behind the arc. Then, within a period of 20 seconds, he twice made a steal and returned the other way for a layup.

His 6-point outburst - which came in a span of 39 seconds - all but doomed the Longhorns.

Daum answered Ehler with 4 quick points - with the second being a nice turn-around-jumper - but the Raiders went on a 9-0 run late in the quarter to seal the deal.

O'Connell's third three and Sager's converted layup from another Ehler assist provided the late highlights for Sidney.

Phase two of the Raiders three day odyssey takes place at Sidney High School Friday against district leading Gering. On Saturday the Raiders travel to McCook for another important district game.

The Raiders date with Gering Friday night at the Cabela's Athletic Facility is sceduled for a 7 p.m. tip.

The McCook contest is slated for 6 p.m. MST Saturday, after the girls open the night.

Boys Basketball

Sidney 63

Kimball 45