Scottsbluff upends Sidney in final seconds

Thursday's loss to Scottsbluff was "about as tough as they come," said Sidney girls basketball coach Tyler Shaw.

The top-seeded Lady Raiders fell 39-38 to the Lady Bearcats in the District B6 semifinals in Ogallala. Taylor Noe's layup with 12 seconds left was the deciding blow, as Sidney ends the season with a 17-7 record. Scottsbluff advances to the district finals Friday night to face Alliance, a 52-40 winner against McCook.

"Being in a position to win a game and having them steal it in the last 20, 30 seconds is never a fun thing for a group of girls who have worked all season to put themselves in a good spot," Shaw said. "That's about as tough as it comes."

Sidney held the lead for most of the game, and had a 35-29 advantage early in the fourth quarter after back-to-back Maddi Porter layups. Scottsbluff (9-13) scored the game's next six points, knotting the game at 35-all on a Noe free throw with 3:01 left in the game.

It didn't take long for Sidney to go back on top, as Kelsey Knight drained a three-pointer off an Emily Mahr screen with 2:14 remaining that gave the Lady Raiders a 38-35 advantage.

The trey was Sidney's final point of the game, however. Alysianna Camacho's putback layup with 1:41 left cut the Lady Raider advantage to 38-37, before Noe's layup in the waning seconds was the deciding basket.

Sidney had one last chance after Shaw called a time out with 6.3 seconds left, but Knight's long trey as time expired was off the mark and Scottsbluff came away with the upset win.

The Lady Raiders struggled down the stretch in the fourth quarter. After going up 35-29 with 5:11 left, they hit just one field goal and went 0-for-3 on free throw attempts. Sidney also went just 4-of-12 from the foul line on the night, including 1-for-6 in the second half.

"Obviously those are the ones that get the most attention, because everybody sees those things at the end of the game," Shaw said. "But there's lots of free throws and turnovers and just shots under the basket in the first quarter that very well could have determined the outcome. We try not to pinpoint those things at the end, even though everybody sees them. We try to focus on the big picture, and we just didn't get it done."

Thursday was the third meeting of the season between the two teams. The Lady Raiders won the previous two meetings, 39-15 on Jan. 22 at home and 46-35 on Feb. 6 in Scottsbluff.

Beating a rival three straight times in a season is a tough thing to do, Shaw said.

"We played them three times and beat them two out of three, but you've got to beat them at the right time of the year," he said. "It's never easy, and obviously tonight, it wasn't either. It was tough."

Porter led the Lady Raiders with 13 points, while Abbey Mills added seven points on the night. Noe had a game-high 15 points for the Lady Bearcats and Camacho added 10 points.

Scottsbluff had the early lead in the game before back-to-back Jasmine Jallen layups and a trey from Mills gave Sidney a 10-8 lead. Porter's layup on an in bounds play gave the Lady Raiders a 12-8 advantage heading into the second quarter.

Things went the Lady Raiders' early in the second quarter as they used a 5-0 run for a 17-8 advantage. The Lady Bearcats battled back, and took a 21-20 halftime lead on Noe's fast break basket and subsequent free throw.

Sidney retook the lead on Janay Brauer's fast break bucket at 25-23 with 5:02 left in the third quarter, and after Scottsbluff briefly tied things up again, took a 27-25 advantage on Mills' jumper just inside the free throw line. The Lady Raiders, who led for most of the game, held the lead from that point until the Lady Bearcats knotted the game at 35-all with 3:01 left in the fourth quarter.

"We did, we led. But you've got to have the lead when the buzzer sounds," Shaw said. "That's the one thing, they made a play at the end. Give them credit. They're moving on."

Thursday's game was the final in a basketball uniform for a trio of Sidney seniors, Jallen, Mahr and Abby Heller.

"The seniors provided great leadership for us, both on and off the court," Shaw said. "All of our girls are good kids, good students, good people. The seniors just kind of, in our program, took all of those kids under their wing and put their own little spin on the season. They led by example on and off the court.

"You can't say enough about Emily, Abby and Jasmine. They're such good kids. I love them to death. I love all of them to death, but the seniors are really good kids."