Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Talented Bearcats prove to be too much for Raiders in 67-54 defeat
Lane Harvey drives to the basket for two of his 17 points on Saturday.
Whenever the boys' high school basketball teams at rivals Sidney and Scottsbluff meet to do battle, each of the players involved have come to expect a physical and emotional battle.
And Saturday night's Western Conference Tournament championship game at Western Nebraska Community College lived up to the hype. Scottsbluff used a strong spurt in the third quarter that helped push the Bearcats to the 67-54 victory.
Both teams agreed after the game that it was the kind of matchup they have come to expect.
"I'm really pleased with the effort we put out there tonight," said Sidney head coach Erik Kohl. "These guys care about each other and fight and battle to the end. They just have a never-give-up attitude in them."
Scottsbluff, which is ranked as the No. 2 team in the state in Class B and improved to 3-0, broke open a 30-26 halftime lead by outscoring the Red Raiders 21-11 in the third quarter. That came after a nick-and-tuck game in the first half that saw eight lead changes and six ties.
"They came out and ran a zone (defense) in the third quarter that really slowed us down," Kohl added. "They are a really good basketball team. We battled hard with them for most of that game.
"I'm very pleased at where we are as a team right now," he added. "Our boys will get better as the year goes on. I love that we got the chance to play some quality opponents in this tournament so early in the year. That's only going to make us better as a team."
Tyler Wintholz led Sidney in scoring with 18 points, while teammate Lane Harvey chipped in 17 more. Cutter O'Connell and Jake Heeren added eight and seven points, respectively.
"In that third quarter, we just weren't moving the ball around as well," Wintholz said. "They seemed to have more composure than us, and that made a big difference."
Scottsbluff's Trent Harris led all scorers with 23 points – including 16 in the second half.
"We all had to get focused at halftime and everyone has a lot of heart on our team," Harris said. "We have shooters. We have big men. We have everything pretty much. We just need to work together.
"This was a good game for us because an early win against a conference opponent gives us a boost in our confidence," he added.
Scottsbluff led 17-15 after the opening quarter, an eight-minute session that saw Wintholz, Harvey and O'Connell score five points apiece for the Red Raiders.
Neither team managed a lead larger than four points throughout the second period. The teams were tied 26-26 with a minute and a half left before halftime, but the Bearcats managed two baskets in the final minute to take the 30-26 edge into the locker rooms.
Scottsbluff, behind seven points in the third quarter from Harris, then started to pull away. It opened up a 15-point lead during the quarter and then eventually pushed the margin to 21 midway through the final period.
A 10-1 run during a two-minute span later in the quarter helped trim the Bearcats' lead to 11, but Sidney couldn't get any closer and the damage had been done.
"Every time we play them, we'll get better," Harvey said. "They're a very versatile team. They can really run. When they start scoring it's hard to stop them."
Sidney next plays on Friday at 7:30 p.m. when it travels to take on Chase County (2-0) in Imperial, Neb.
Friday's semifinals
Sidney 51, Chadron 49
Wintholz scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Red Raiders to the win over Chadron on Friday night in the tournament semifinals.
All night, the Red Raiders leaned on Wintholz' ability to make big shots as well solid ball movement against an athletic Chadron squad.
Senior Cody Frerichs added seven points and four rebounds, nailing a couple of critical threes late to help Sidney secure the win and a spot in the title game.
Chadron's Vonsinh Sayaloune poured in 23 points for the Cardinals and came up just short on a half-court attempt to win the game at the buzzer.
Sportswriter Will Korn contributed to this story.
Western Conference Tournament
Boys' Division
Thursday, Dec. 4
Sidney 60, Greeley West (Colo.) 37
Chadron 43, Gering 32
Alliance 47, Omaha Gross 44
Scottsbluff 71, Mitchell 23
Friday, Dec. 5
Sidney 51, Chadron 49
Scottsbluff 68, Alliance 48
Greeley West 75, Gering 57
Omaha Gross 63, Mitchell 34
Saturday, Dec. 6
7th-place game – Gering 64, Micthell 48
5th-place game – Greeley West 63, Omaha Gross 53
3rd-place game – Chadron 54, Alliance 36
Championship game – Scottsbluff 67, Sidney 54
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