Sidney Girls Ready For Beatrice

Sidney's Lady Raiders basketball team faces the Beatrice Lady Orange on Thursday March 1 in Lincoln at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in the 2018 NSAA State Girls Basketball Championships. The Lady Raiders (21-3, 7-1 in district) enter the contest as the number one seed and winners of their last seven games. The Lady Orange (12-8, 5-3 in district) are the eight seed and winners of seven of their last eight entering the tournament. Sidney faced Beatrice earlier in the season at the Cabela's Shoot-Out Tournament, handing the Lady Orange a 48-35 loss en route to capturing the Shoot-Out crown.

The Lady Raiders should expect a a team excited to be in their first state tournament in five years, and that has improved its play with a decrease in turnovers. Both teams got a good look at each other at the Cabela's tournament, and that familiarity will help both teams in their preparations as they have an idea of what to expect, and what they need to change in order to keep their opponent off-balance.

The Lady Orange are led by senior Michaela Jones, who averages over 20 points per game, and is considered one of the best players in the state. The team also feels comfortable in the role of an underdog, especially since they have played the Lady Raiders before and have some idea of what to expect.

But the Lady Orange do have a tough challenge ahead of them, as Sidney's girls have shown repeatedly they can stay poised and come back in games when they've trailed, and have the characteristic a championship teams possess-the ability to overwhelm an opponent and not let them back into the game. With this matchup, expect Sidney to come out fast and try to bury the Lady Orange quickly, forcing them to play from behind while exerting enough pressure on Michaela Jones to make her a non-factor in the game. Analyzing both teams strengths and weaknesses, it's easy to see that this game is Sidney's to lose.