Talking Sports: The year that was

With state golf underway in four different Nebraska cities, the official end to the 2013-2014 NSAA sports season is fast coming to a close.

It would be difficult to recount each dramatic moment of every team over the past school year - there were just too many. But there were certain moments and games that won’t be forgotten for a long time by many.

Employed to document the local sports scene I was privileged to go along for the ride on several trips to state tournaments. I don’t think I would ever bother trying to distinguish one great moment as being greater than another. But there were a few events that I may never forget. Most were fun, but some were even a little heartbreaking.

Despite the deep pool of talented and exciting teams, there are two seasons I won’t ever forget. All the teams were enjoyable at the time, but once the season is over and you look back you sometimes wonder, “Did that really happen?”

For me it’s hard to look past the Sidney football team and girls basketball team as two of the most enjoyable stories of the past season. The Sidney gridders have had to endure some tough seasons of late. Before 2013 it had been 19 years since a Sidney team made a post-season game and 20 since it had won one. Coming into 2013 they had felt victory in a total of just two games.

The Raiders started out the season by eclipsing that three-year output by winning their first three games. Then they lost three. So how far could they go being .500? How could a .500 team match up with Scottsbluff? It’s easy now to recognize the team’s quality, but back then questions filled the air as the season progressed game-by-game.

The season really became interesting when the district season began. After getting past Alliance and Gering it was suddenly time for the big game vs. the Bearcats at Weymouth Field. Sidney had to win to play another day. No problem when Logan Lewis ran for 306 yards and a school record in a 36-26 win over their district arch rivals.

“How fun was that,” yelled Sidney Head Coach Todd Ekart to the gathered crowd after the win.

Lots of fun coach. Lots of fun.

It was plenty of fun too when Sidney hosted its first playoff game in 20 years a week later. When the Blair Bears couldn’t find a way to slow down Lewis, Chance Anglin or Michael Deaver, the Raiders earned their first playoff victory in two decades. With the win came the biggest challenge yet. A chance to meet top rated Gretna on their home ground.

Even though the Raiders lost in the waning moments to Gretna, they earned the respect of not just the Dragons but also their community and themselves. They fought the top rated team in the state to standstill for nearly 48 minutes. It’s hard to imagine the most exciting game of the year being a loss, but in many ways it was.

Early in the season it was hard to make heads or tales of the Raiders girls basketball team. The boys hoopsters were good--that was obvious from the get go. But they were in a very deep district in which any of three teams could finish on top. But the girls had lost six seniors from the season before and now had to re-identify themselves.

After the season was over, Head Coach Tyler Shaw admitted it was a work in progress early on. Who were the leaders going to be? Could they come together and work as a group? Shaw seemed to believe he had the individuals - but that’s never enough.

But after an inconsistent opening to its season, Sidney began winning games with regularity. When the district final against Gering arrived, Shaw put his trust in the veterans and started his five seniors: Katelin Cole, Sarah Mahr, Rachel Petik, Abbi Porter and Cody Rowley. When the contest was over, Sidney had stormed back from a 12-point deficit with 5:33 left to play.

The stunning turnaround made it the most exciting game of the year in any sport - at least of the ones I saw. The reward was a trip to the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln to play in the NSAA State Basketball Championships.

What a venue, what an atmosphere, what a ride.

Maybe its wrong to single out just two teams over the past year as somehow being more special than the rest. They weren’t really. But I don’t have the space available to recount every remarkable season and moment.

In Dalton the Leyton basketball team went went to state, too. But for one miserable quarter it could have come out a winner. The Warriors football team played an exciting game at Hay Springs in their post season. The volleyball team at Leyton seems to be a contender year in and year out.

Sidney boys hoops were always exciting. What’s that phrase we used to use as kids when something didn’t seem fair. Oh yea, “What a gyp.” That’s kind of how I felt about the boys having to play in such a tough district. They would have been fun to watch in Lincoln. I kind of feel that way too about Leyton and Sidney volleyball getting the short end of the stick at playoff time because they’re from the more sparsely populated west. It’s always a long road trip for them.

I wish I could have seen more Peetz football, ‘cuz that six-man game just might be the “greatest show on earth,” to borrow a phrase from Barnum and Bailey. Non-stop action and the Bulldogs made it to the post season too. From what I heard about the post-season Arickaree win, I sure which I could have been there.

But I wasn’t. What a gyp.