Sidney Girls Add Wins to Record

Sidney's Lady Raider Basketball team continued to add to the win column, tallying three straight victories after North Platte ended a Sidney ten-game win streak in the third week of January. Sidney hosted 14-and-1 Chadron on Friday, and the tall and tough Lady Cardinals challenged from the start with strong defense limiting the Lady Raiders inside shooting. Chadron built a 14-to-11 lead late in the first period when Sidney senior Mattie Johnson buried a three pointer to knot the score at 14 going into the second quarter.

Chadron continued to play tight defense, using their height advantage to disrupt the Sidney passing attack and cause turnovers and poor shots. The scoring finally resumed when Sidney senior MJ Johnstone hit from the outside for three points followed by a Johnson layup to make the score 19-to-14. Chadron called a timeout when Sidney pushed the lead to 25-to-18, trying to slow the Sidney momentum. The Lady Raiders could have built a bigger lead, but had trouble at the free throw line and led by only eight at the half, 30-to-22.

Both teams engaged in a defensive battle in the third quarter and both teams struggled to score. Chadron's Olivia Reed and Shea Bailey played great defense for the Lady Cardinals limiting Sidney to just just five points in the quarter, and Chadron was within striking distance at 35-to-26 at the end of the third quarter. But Sidney senior Kendra Nesbitt nailed a three point shot to open the fourth and the Lady Raiders turned up the defensive pressure.

Chadron tried to chip away at the Sidney lead, but could not overcome the strong pressure of the Lady Raider defense. Sidney kept the pace up and ended the game with a nine point victory, 42-to-33. Johnson led the scoring with 14 points and senior Nicole Birner followed with 11 points. Chadron's Bailey and Reed had 9 points each in the loss.

Sidney followed up with a big win on Saturday, traveling to Colorado for a matchup with the 8-and-4 Lady Beetdiggers. Brush came out strong, challenging the Lady Raiders with strong defense of their own and matched Sidney's scoring, and only trailed by three at the half, 21-to-18. But the Lady Raiders offense took off in the third quarter, with Sidney's Johnson and Birner leading the offense to a 40-to-23 lead going into the fourth period. Sidney cruised through the fourth quarter, adding another eight points to end with a 54-to-33 road win. Johnson again led the scoring with 20 points in the win. Sidney's record improves to 14-and-4 on the year and they go on the road Friday to take on Gering followed by a Saturday road contest against Scottsbluff.