Let the waiting game begin

For the Sidney High boys' basketball team, it's now a waiting game.

After the top-seeded Red Raiders' 56-50 loss to the No. 4 Alliance Bulldogs in the semifinals of the District B-6 tournament at the Cabela's Athletic Facility on Monday night, the fate of Sidney's state tournament hopes rests in the hands of the mathematicians – and a few other teams.

In the second game of the Class B-6 semifinal doubleheader in Sidney, No. 2 Scottsbluff eliminated No. 3 Gering, 51-39. Scottsbluff will host Alliance on Tuesday night for the championship.

Of more importance to the Raiders, however, is what will happen in the east on Tuesday.

At the conclusion of Monday night's Class B action, Sidney remained third in the Nebraska School Activities Association's wild-card standings. It's in need of help in order to qualify for next week's state tournament. With six Class B district finals on tap Tuesday, the Raiders are particularly interested in the results of Districts 2 and 4.

In B-2, top-seeded Gretna (23-2) will meet No. 2 Elkhorn South (17-4) to determine its champion. Also important is the battle between No. 1 Beatrice (20-4) and No. 3 Crete (16-7) in District 4. One of the top seeds will have to win for Sidney to earn a wild-card berth.

As for the Raiders, who now stand at 20-4 on the season, they led the Bulldogs (10-13) by eight points at the half, 31-23. Throughout the third quarter, Alliance began to whittle away at the Sidney lead until it grasped a 40-39 edge after 24 minutes.

Though Cutter O'Connell rescued back the lead for Sidney by opening the final quarter on a personal 5-0 run, the Bulldogs' Jordan Mills suddenly heated up. Besides leading all scorers with 26 points, he was good for 18 in the second half.

"Yeah, they came out and got us, I don't know if there's anything more to say," said senior Cody Frerichs. "Maybe we underestimated them and they came out and proved us wrong.

"You know, Mills just went off. He's a great player and you have to give him credit. He pretty much did it for them," Frerichs added.

Mills hit nine shots on 16 attempts that included going 4 for 9 from beyond the bend. For good measure, he led the 'Dogs in rebounding with 10 and assists with five.

"We've been focusing all year long on beating these guys at the end," Mills said. "We just kind of built ourselves up as a team and began to trust in our teammates. We didn't do anything differently than the last couple of times we played these guys, we just played hard."

When O'Connell opened the final quarter by hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key and followed by converting a sharp pass from Jake Heeren to the inside, the roar from the Sidney fans was deafening. But Alliance seized the momentum right back when Mills hit from downtown to begin a 9-0 run.

While the Raiders never again led, they still had a chance in the waning seconds. With Sidney trailing 53-50 with 19 seconds left, Kyle King missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Raiders could not control the rebound, however, and instead sent King back to the line, where he promptly sank two shots.

"I think they kind of coasted through the season a little," O'Connell said. "They were here ready to play and we weren't and that kind of thing happens in districts."

In the later stages of the quarter O'Connell – arguably Sidney's best long-range shooter – was felled by a bone bruise and had to be removed from the game. Should Sidney advance to state, he would "definitely" be playing, he said.

"They're a lot better than they were at the beginning of the season and they played really well," Sidney's Ryan Birner said. "I'm disappointed, but hopeful too. For now, we're Beatrice and Gretna fans."

Heeren led the Raiders in scoring with 14 points, which included a 3-pointer in the final minute to keep Sidney's hopes alive.

O'Connell added 13 points and Tyler Wintholz chipped in 10.

"If we make it to state, watch out," O'Connell said. "We're very hungry right now."

BOYS' B-6 BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS

BOYS' Basketball

B-6 District Tournament

At McCook Community College

Saturday, Feb. 28

No. 4 Alliance 52, vs. No. 5 McCook 38

Monday, March 2

At Cabela's Athletic Facility, Sidney

No. 4 Alliance 56, No. 1 Sidney 50

No. 2 Scottsbluff 51, No. 3 Gering 39

Tuesday, March 3

At Scottsbluff High School

No. 4 Alliance (10-13) vs. No. 1 Scottsbluff (20-4), 6:30 p.m.

MONDAY'S BOXSCORE

Boys' District B-6 Semifinal

Alliance 56, Sidney 50

Alliance 19 4 17 16 – 56

Sidney 15 16 8 11 – 50

ALLIANCE (56) – Jordan Mills 26, Jack Matulka 10, Kyle King 7, Brody Brennan 7, Michael Gomez 4, Cole Randall 2.

SIDNEY (50) – Jake Heeren 14, Cutter O'Connell 13, Tyler Wintholz 10, Cody Frerichs 6, Ryan Birner 5, Jared Ross 2.