Sidney boys improve to 12-2 over weekend

LEXINGTON – The Sidney Red Raiders maintained their perfect record in 2015 (6-0) with two more wins over non-district opponents over the weekend.

Sidney first knocked off the Ogallala Indians (1-12) at the Cabela's Athletic Facility 66-41 before the toppling the Lexington Minutemen (2-11) on the road 80-64. The Raiders now stand at 12-2 overall.

Despite not having enough fire power to stay with the Raiders, the Minutemen had a pair of talented scorers that challenged the Sidney defense from start-to-finish. While Trevor McKeone scored 26 points and Seth Soderlund 20 more for Lexington, Sidney's depth ultimately proved too much in this clash of Class B opponents.

"They've played a lot of good teams this year so we knew they were better than their record said they were," said Lane Harvey. "They've got some really nice players over there."

Cutter O'Connell's team-high 19 points was backed up by a trio of 15 point scorers in Ryan Birner, Lane Harvey and Tyler Wintholz. Birner worked much of his magic under the boards where his specialty has become the put-back layup. His rebounding skills at both ends of the floor coming off the bench have proven a big asset to the Raiders.

"Ryan has been a big role player for us and that's the kind of thing that can make a huge difference in close games," said Raiders head coach Erik Kohl.

With a strong weekend behind them, the Raiders can now focus on the Bearcats of Scottsbluff who ride into town this Friday. The Bearcats (10-3 overall) lead District B-6 with an unblemished record of 3-0. Sidney sits at 3-1 with its only blemish coming via Bearcats on Dec. 6. The Raiders dropped a 67-54 affair in the season opening Western Conference Tournament.

When Wintholz opened the game at Lexington by converting a quick-strike pass from Harvey and shortly thereafter finishing off a court-length drive, the Raiders had a lead they would never surrender completely. Only when the score reached 4-4 did the Minutemen have so much as a piece of the lead.

But Sidney finished off the opening eight minutes on a 13-2 run highlighted by an O'Connell three pointer and the completion of a three-point play by Birner. Birner, in fact, finished off the first quarter by scoring Sidney's final seven points which included 3-3 from the foul line.

"I had so much fun playing today," Birner said. "As the season goes along we all seem to get better and better as a team. Everybody's always doing everything they can get a win and that's fun to be a part of."

The scoring talent of Lexington began to show itself over the second eight minutes, but Sidney held them off well enough to extend its lead another four points. The score at halftime had the Raiders holding a 40-25 lead.

O'Connell opened the second half by draining a three pointer and Jake Heeren later followed with another to help Sidney keep pace in a third quarter in which both teams scored 26 points. A back-and-fourth quarter wasn't good enough to bring the Minutemen out of their large hole as Sidney went on to post the easy victory.

"We never worry about a team's record. It's basketball and anybody can win and you have to respect whovever you face," O'Connell said. "It's hard playing back-to-back so it's nice to see how well prepared we were."

Sidney 66, Ogallala 41

Cutter O'Connell and Jared Ross led Sidney in scoring with 15 and 14 points respectively in the win over the Indians. Brady Radcliff and Lane Harvey chipped in with nine apiece.

After holding just a three-point edge (16-13) after eight minutes, Sidney began to assert itself in the middle frames. At the half the Raiders increased their lead to 13 points (34-21) and upped that margin to 53-28 after 24 minutes.