Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Sidney's Annalise Lecher grimaces as she tries to put up a shot vs. Mitchell on Saturday.
No one can accuse Sidney High junior Kelsey Knight of not being able to handle pressure.
With Saturday night's game against Mitchell on the line, Knight calmly stepped to the free-throw line with 6.1 seconds remaining and sank her three shots to propel the Lady Raiders to the 44-42 victory.
Knight and her teammates probably weren't thinking about such heroics when the fourth quarter began, as they were holding a 34-22 advantage in a game Sidney thoroughly dominated for the opening three periods.
All that changed when Mitchell relied heavily on 5-foot, 10-inch senior Kady Lower in the final eight minutes. Lower scored 14 of her game-high 24 points in the final stanza to help the Tigers roar back. A pair of Lower free throws with 29 seconds left gave Mitchell its first lead of the second half at 42-41.
On the ensuing possession, the Lady Raiders moved the ball around the arc looking for openers, but a tenacious Mitchell defense made life difficult. Knight finally got the ball on the left wing and launched a 3-pointer with the clock running down, but was fouled by Mitchell's Celeste Cardona.
Knight took care of business and Mitchell failed to get off a shot as time expired.
"I was nervous, just so nervous," admitted Knight after the game. "We usually run that play for Emily (Mahr), but I was the only one open. I was lucky she fouled me.
"I just told myself that I needed to be calm," added Knight, who paced the Lady Raiders with a team-high 14 points. "I just said to myself that I needed to make two of the three shots. I just went to my happy place before each shot. It just worked out."
Sidney improved to 15-7, while Mitchell – a strong class C1 team – slipped to 15-6.
Sidney head coach Tyler Shaw was relieved his team didn't let the win slip away.
"Lower just about murdered us in that fourth quarter," he said. "She is just a great player, one of the best post players in the Panhandle.
"On that last play, we got the best-case scenario," Shaw added. "It's going to be Emily or Kelsey taking that last shot. Kelsey made three tough free throws at the end to save us."
Sidney held a 9-8 advantage after a back-and-forth first quarter, but extended its lead to 23-12 by the intermission. The Lady Raiders went up 11 after the third period, before Mitchell rallied back.
The Lady Raiders wrap up their regular season on Friday night at home against Alliance (3-16).
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