Raiders fall to hot-shooting Bluehawks

Hastings St. Cecilia took control in the first half and handed Sidney its second loss of the season on Saturday in the Heartland Hoops Classic in Grand Island.

The Bluehawks (17-4) outscored the Raiders (21-2) by a 33-20 clip in the first half, including by a 19-11 margin in the second quarter.

St. Cecilia blistered the floor with 67 percent shooting, hitting 18 of its 27 shots on the night. That included six of 10 connections from beyond the arc. Sidney hit just 38 percent of its shots from the field, going 15 of 39 form the floor. The Raiders also struggled from three-point land, where they hit just three of 15 shots.

The Bluehawks also outrebounded the Raiders 25-15 on the night.

Tyler Wintholz led the Raiders offensively with 18 points, while Cutter O’Connell added 11 points. Brooks Asher was the high scorer for the Bluehawks with 26 points, while Zach Kitten added 16 points.

On Friday, Sidney picked up a 46-31 win at Chadron.

The Raiders wrap up regular season play on Friday with a 7 p.m. road contest at Alliance.

Girls basketball

Chadron 43, Sidney 30

The Sidney girls basketball team dropped its third game to Chadron this season on Friday, falling 43-30 in a road contest.

The Lady Cardinals improved to 17-3 overall and 10-1 at home with Friday’s win. The Lady Raiders fell to 16-6 with the loss.

Sidney wraps up its regular season Friday with a 5:30 p.m. contest at Alliance.