Raiders Roll Over Alliance, 60-44

Mike Motz, Sidney Sun-Telegraph

Sidney's Red Raider Boy's Basketball team didn't have a memorable performance shooting from the field on Friday, but coupled with their strong defensive play, it was enough to earn a double-digit win over rival Alliance, 60-to-44.

After opening a 6-to-0 lead early, the Raider offense cooled off and Alliance was able to battle back and trim the lead to 9-to-7, after the low-scoring first period. Both teams picked their games up offensively in the second quarter, but Sidney still held a lead at 25-to-19 at the halftime intermission.

Sidney took control in the third period, with seven different players scoring and taking a 45-to-33 lead into the fourth quarter. Sidney stretched their lead to 20 points in the fourth quarter until Alliance battled back to make the final margin sixteen with Sidney taking the 60-to-44 win.

Sophomore Landon Riddle and senior Jaeden Dillehay led the way in scoring for Sidney with 11 points each on the night. Senior Jacob Dowse returned after missing the last few games with an injury and added 8 points in the victory. Sidney hit the 18 win mark with the victory, and are scheduled to play Chadron in the first round of the C1-12 Subdistrict Tournament in Ogallala on Tuesday.

The Raiders go into the tournament as the number 2 seed with a strong season of solid play under their belt. If they get past Chadron in the opening round, look for Sidney to battle 23-and-0 Ogallala for the Subdistrict crown. Sidney's strong defense, good speed and group of experienced and athletic players that can drive the lane and hit from the outside can definitely upset top seed Ogallala, if given the chance, and make it to a District Final game. If not, the Red Raiders could advance purely on the strength of their regular season record.