Sidney Lady Raiders Start Strong

Sidney's Lady Raider basketball team competed at the Western Conference Tournament in Scottsbluff over the weekend, and ended the tournament with two wins and one loss to start their season strong.

Sidney's first game was on Thursday night against Gering, and the Lady Bulldogs battled all the way, up 49-to-47 with five seconds left in regulation against the Lady Raiders, and geared for a big upset against their state-ranked rivals.

But Sidney junior Mattie Johnson was fouled on a shot attempt in the final second, and responded with two free throws with just .1 seconds left to tie the game and send it into overtime. Gering pulled ahead by three points in the second overtime, but as time expired Sidney senior Janay Brauer nailed a three pointer to send the game into a second overtime period.

Sidney pulled away from Gering in the second overtime period, outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 12-to-3 to earn the victory with a 69-to-60 final score.

On Friday, the Lady Raiders faced Chadron and after a tight first period were able to build a 27-to-16 halftime lead against the Lady Cardinals. Chadron was able to battle back in the third quarter, outscoring Sidney 13-to-11, but the Lady Raiders Raiders finished strong in the fourth period with an 18-to-10 tally to earn a comfortable 56-to-39 victory over Chadron.

Saturday had Sidney face Mitchell and their top-rated 6'3" center Keyana Wilfred, and the game turned on two opposite quarters. In the second period, the Lady Raiders outscored the Lady Tigers 13-to-5 to take a 25-to-20 lead into the half. But in the third quarter, the roles were reversed and Mitchell outscored Sidney 20-to-5 to open a 40-to-30 advantage.

The Lady Raiders battled back in the fourth, outscoring Mitchell 13-to-8, but it was not enough to overcome the strong third quarter by the Lady Tigers, and the Lady Raiders went down in defeat 48-to-43.

The Lady Raiders next travel to Chase County High School on Friday to take on the Lady Longhorns.