Lady Raiders Rally Past Platteview, 50-41

KEARNEY--After a disappointing loss to Bridgeport in the C1-12 Subdistrict championship game on Friday, February 16, Sidney's Lady Raider basketball team needed to re-group and re-focus themselves for their next challenge, the C1-2 District Final match-up against Platteview on Friday, February 23 at Kearney Catholic High School in Kearney. Although the Lady Raiders came into the matchup with an impressive 23-and-1 record versus the Platteview Lady Trojans' middling 13-and-10 record, the Sidney girls knew they would have to be at their sharpest to win this game and punch their ticket to Lincoln.

Sidney started the game by corralling the tip-off, and senior Chloe Ahrens cut across the key and looped in a hook shot to get Sidney on the board early, but Platteview responded with five unanswered points. Sidney battled back to tie at 5-to-5, then ramped up the defense and pulled ahead. Platteview tried to stay with the Lady Raiders, but junior Kayla Westby's three-point score in the final seconds put the Sidney squad up 18-to-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Sidney's defense continued their good play in the second quarter, but the Lady Raider offense went ice-cold, only scoring two points until senior Karsyn Leeling drained a three-pointer at 2:35 followed by junior Jordan DeNovellis sinking a three to give Sidney a 26-to-19 lead at the halftime break. Sidney's offense again stalled in the third quarter while Platteview chipped away at the lead, with Platteview senior Hannah Tagel burying a three to tie the game at 31-to-31. Leeling responded immediately with a triple of her own to give Sidney a 34-to-31 lead going into the final stanza.

Platteview pulled ahead early in the quarter when Tagel hit another three-point shot, and the teams battled and traded leads for the next few minutes of the quarter. Sidney was playing great defense but was getting a little sloppy on offense, throwing the ball away and not converting on easy shots. With about 2:30 left and the game tied at 41, Westby drained a three-point shot to give Sidney a 44-to-41 lead. Sidney shut down the next Platteview possession, then started burning the clock by passing the ball around. Eventually, Westby was fouled and went to the foul line, and both of her shots were true, giving Sidney a 46-to-41 lead with about a minute and a half left. On Platteview's next possession, a charging foul was called, wiping out a score, forcing the Lady Trojans to foul again. This time DeNovellis made both of her free throws for a 48-to-41 lead, and a steal by Ahrens turned into a fast break and two points to end the game in a Sidney victory, 50-to-41.

Westby led all scorers with 14 points in the victory, while Leeling and DeNovellis each had 10 points. Sidney will play Hastings Adams Central on Thursday, in the first round of the NSAA State Tournament, with tip-off scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT. The Lady Patriots come into the matchup with Sidney with a 20-and-5 record.