Lady Raiders Take Two of Three

Sidney’s Lady Raider Basketball team had two strong wins over the week but the momentum of victory wasn’t enough to overcome a tough Class A opponent in North Platte on Saturday.

The Lady Raiders started the weeks’ action on Tuesday on the road against Mitchell, a team they had beaten by four points at the Sidney Holiday Shootout that was suffering through a five game losing streak. Sidney opened a six point lead and relied on their tough defense to slow the Lady Tigers’ offense, and Sidney led 18-to-10 at the end of the first quarter. Mitchell finally started to cut into the lead when the Lady Tiger senior Jayden Kanno hit a three and sparked a Mitchell 7-to-0 run which had Mitchell close to within three points . But by the end of the half the Sidney offense awoke and took a 30-to-19 lead into the intermission.

The third quarter was dominated by both teams’ defenses, with Sidney only scoring six and Mitchell four points in the quarter. Sidney changed it up in the fourth quarter and opened with a 12-to-0 run that put the game away. Mitchel narrowed the lead in the final moments, but the Lady Raiders earned a convincing 52-to-34 win. Head Coach Tyler Shaw did a great job substituting and getting all his players involved in the offense. Junior Alecca Campbell led the scoring for Sidney with 10 points in the victory.

Sidney next hosted the Ogallala Lady Indians Friday evening at Sidney High School, and the Lady Raiders opened a 10 point advantage until Ogallala stormed back in the second quarter to take the lead at the half, 26-to-24. Sidney trailed through the third quarter, but stayed within striking distance until senior Karly Sylvester finally gave the Lady Raiders a lead with a free throw in the fourth quarter. Sidney’s defense clamped down while they scored down the stretch for an impressive 49-to-39 come from behind victory. Sylvester led the scoring with 13 points, with nine coming in the fourth quarter.

On Saturday Sidney wrapped up their busy week by traveling to North Platte to face off against the Class A Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Raiders would need to execute at their highest level against a North Platte team with a middling record, but a very tough schedule against some of the top teams in the state. The Lady Bulldogs opened fast with a 6-to-1 lead until Sidney started to score halfway through the first period. The Lady Bulldogs started to pull away but the Sidney defense and scores by Sylvester and Campbell kept the Lady Raiders close, trailing 14-to-10 at the end of the first period. The athletic and long North Platte team blocked shots and created turnovers, pushing the Lady Raiders to the limit but the Sidney girls hung tough and went into the half down by six, 25-to-19.

Sidney was missing too many close shots and turned the ball over due to the North Platte pressure, but kept battling until they closed the lead to just three points at 29-to-26 on freshman Katie Ramsey’s three-point hit. But the Lady Bulldogs then went on an eight point run to close the quarter and led 37-to-26. Every Sidney scoring burst was met with a North Platte run through the rest of the game, with the Lady Bulldogs maintaining a double digit lead for most of the quarter. North Platte poured it on to finish the game with a 16 point win, 51-to-35. The Lady Raiders played a solid game, but the tough defense and speed were just too much for Sidney on this day. Sylvester led the Sidney scoring with 10 points against the North Platte pressure defense. The Lady Raiders had a solid week and built upon their recent offensive success. Although they struggled to score against North Platte, coach Shaw looks to have the Lady Raiders right where they should be to start their push to close out the season and head to post-season play.