Red Raiders continue to roll, improve to 19-3

After a strong weekend, the Sidney High boys' basketball team put it in a commanding position to repeat as the No. 1 seed at districts.

The Raiders opened their weekend by knocking off a talented Chadron team for the third time this season, 52-44, at the Cabela's Athletic Facility. After their blowout win the following night over Mitchell, the Raiders are now 19-3, while Chadron is 14-7.

With just one game left on the regular-season schedule, Sidney is holding firm in third place in the NSAA points wildcard standimgs with an average total of 45.182. Though the Scottsbluff Bearcats won three consecutive games in as many nights last week, all three of their wins were against third- and fourth-division teams.

As a result, the Bearcats slipped from fifth to eighth on the list with an average total 43.952. Scottsbluff has two regular-season games left on its schedule against Gering and Rapid City Central (S.D.).

"There are some teams on our schedule and Scottsbluff's that could change divisions that would impact points the final week," said Raiders head coach Erik Kohl. "I don't want to say for certain we would be the No. 1 seed in districts if we beat Alliance, but we would give ourselves a high likelihood."

The division that a team is in reflects its season record. The NSAA divides teams into four divisions based on their won-loss record. As a team's win-loss percentage can fluctuate throughout the season, so too can a team's assigned division. Beating a team in a higher division earns a team more points and bonus points are added for playing teams in a higher class.

While the Raiders led most of the way against Chadron, a sluggish second quarter could have led to their undoing. Sidney – capable of explosive offensive production – went through the eight minutes of the second frame scoring just two points.

After Jared Ross dropped in a layup after receiving a pass from Lane Harvey, Chadron finished the second quarter on a 10-0 run. When the halftime horn sounded, Sidney's six-point first quarter lead morphed into a two-point hole at 20-18.

"Only a two-point second quarter. That's got to be the worst quarter we've played all year," Sidney's Jake Heeren said. "We knew it wouldn't be easy but we know we're a lot better than that."

While the Raiders recovered some offensive touch in the third quarter, the Cardinals stuck with them. Chadron led by as many as six in the third, but four points by Cody Frerichs and a three ball from Cutter O'Connell finally put the Raiders back in front after 24 minutes 32-31.

Chadron remained in the fight throughout the final stanza and with 2:46 left, Vonsinh Sayaloune put the Cards up by a point at 41-40. But the Sayaloune jumper only seemed to antagonize the Raiders as they finished the game on a 12-3 run. Brady Radcliffe helped the cause by scoring all of his six points in the final two minutes of the game which included hitting four straight from the foul line.

"I enjoy being on the free-throw line late in games. I feel comfortable with it," said Radcliffe, who also helped seal the deal against Scottsbluff earlier this season with his fourth-quarter foul shooting.

With contributions from Harvey, O'Connell and Heeren, the Raiders jumped on Chadron with a 9-2 lead to open the game. A net bender from beyond the arc by Harvey and a layup by Ross gave Sidney its largest lead of the first half at 16-8. The first period ended with a 16-10 Sidney advantage.

"We didn't come out strong tonight and we can't be giving our opponents, especially a team as good as Chadron, those kinds of opportunities," O'Connell said. "Give Chadron credit though. They're a good team and they're going to fight you for it."

O'Connell topped the Raiders on the scoring sheet with 15 points, while Harvey added 11. Tyler Wintholz, Radcliffe and Frerichs all finished the game with six points.