THREE AND OH!

If the Sidney boys' basketball squad keeps playing to and above the level it exhibited this past weekend at the Western Conference Tournament finals in Scottbluff, fans of the Red Raiders might want to start thinking about booking a return trip to Lincoln in February.

The Raiders, anchored by seniors Cutter O'Connell, Tyler Wintholz, Brady Radcliffe, Ryan Birner and Seth Trost, won the tournament championship on Saturday night by defeating Colorado's Greeley West Spartans, 69-53, at the Cougar Palace on the campus of Western Nebraska Community College.

Sidney earned the bid to go after that championship after defeating Alliance, 60-46, in the first round of the tournament Thursday night.

Though the Red Raiders took the top spot on Saturday, there was high drama in the semifinals game against Gering on Friday evening.

Semifinals

Sidney 64, Gering 59

Sidney started the game against the Gering Bulldogs with a lead in the first quarter, going up by as many as eight points.

One of the biggest plays of the opening minutes came from Radcliffe as he drained a deep three-pointer on the first Raiders shot of the game.

After a significant offensive push and a whole lot of defensive rebounds by Gering, the Bulldogs briefly took a lead against the Raiders. It wasn't until the waning moments of the half that Sidney was able to come back, courtesy of a massive eight-point scoring output by Wintholz in the second period.

As the Raiders headed to the locker room, leading 29-28 at the half break, head coach Erik Kohl said he knew there were a number of things his team had to discuss before coming back out for the next two quarters of action.

"I decided to push them hard in the second half because I know how good of a team we can be," Kohl said. "I told them we need to have constant effort and constant character, and we saw the results in the second half."

Results, indeed.

After trailing again in the third, the duo of Wintholz and O'Connell joined forces to string together 30 combined points – with O'Connell achieving a seemingly superhuman feat from beyond the arc.

When it came to lifting his team – and securing the win for Sidney – no player was more productive in the final minutes of the game than O'Connell; the senior rose to the occasion, after getting what he called "a little bit angry," by dropping four three-point shots in a row to take a 63-59 lead.

It could have been even better, however: a fifth three-pointer was not counted for O'Connell after a referee called him for a step-back and a palm.

"Cutter had big three after big three in the fourth and it was behind that effort, along with Wintholz going to the basket and Radcliffe's defensive game that elevated us," Kohl said. "It was a great effort because in the third quarter we got a little better, but it was still mediocre. We've been talking a lot about putting out good, solid energy for four quarters. We did that against Gering, just late."

After all was said and done, Sidney walked off the court relieved to have taken the win, though O'Connell said he knew his team could do it all along.

"We all played as a team in the fourth quarter and the guys did a great job getting me open so I could make some shots," O'Connell said. "Radcliffe, Means and Wintholz, along with everyone else, did it tonight and we knew we could make shots when we had to."

Wintholz, who led the team in scoring with 24 points (15 in the second half), said he knew why the Raiders lagged in the middle of the game, but that a team effort made the difference in the win.

"I thought we came out a little tired," Wintholz said. "That was our biggest barrier, getting past that sluggishness. Getting to a championship situation is a place we have been before, so we relied on those of us with experience, but we also brought up some of the younger players who did a good job off the bench as well."

In the end, O'Connell finished with 16 points, while Zack Means tallied up nine in the game and was five-of-eight in free-throws.

Radcliffe recorded seven points, which included the opening three-pointer and a four-of-five showing at the line.

Birner contributed six points and Mitch Porter penciled in a bucket for two points.

Championship

Sidney 69, Greeley West 53

The calm, cool and collected game plan of the Raiders returned on Saturday night in the championship game against Greeley West as the Raiders started the game off with an eight-point lead and never looked back, winning the tournament, 69-53.

It was another big night for three-pointers as Radcliffe (15 points, one rebound) drained four treys, O'Connell (19 points, three rebounds) shot two and Yeager Price (three points) and Wintholz (13 points, four rebounds) each made from form outside.

"We made a lot of rebounds against them, which was one of our goals and our defense was extremely effective in the second half," Kohl said after the game.

We were aggressive in the entire game and a lot of opportunities at the rim, free-throw line and for three-pointers made the difference."

The win gives Sidney a 3-0 start on the season.

This Friday night, the Raiders will host Chase County. Sidney will travel to Sterling, Colo. on Saturday.

The match against Sterling could be significant since, according to Kohl, Sidney has not won a basketball game in Colorado in recent years.