Raiders Fall in District Final to Malcolm, 56-45

GOTHENBURG--On Saturday, February 24, the Red Raider boys basketball team traveled to Gothenburg for a neutral-site C1-4 District Final match-up against Malcolm. The Clippers came into the game with an 18-and-7 record and were the number 13 seed. Sidney came into the game with a 21-and-2 record and were seeded number 4. After building a halftime lead, the Red Raiders let their chance for a State Tournament bid slip away as Malcolm came roaring back to upset the Red Raiders.

The game opened with Malcolm burying a three-point shot, followed by Sidney junior Reid Fiscus laying in a field goal for two points. Sidney then hit a three point shot, then another field goal to take an early 7-to-3 lead. The Sidney defense was disrupting the Clippers' offense, causing turnovers and wild shots, and with the opportunity to work the ball inside and score, the Raiders chose to stay outside the three-point arc and shoot for threes, with little effect. Even when the Raiders got inside, they had difficulty putting in easy shots. The Clippers hung around, and by the end of the first quarter they had narrowed the Sidney lead to 13-to-12. The opportunity to build a big early lead was there, but Sidney failed to take it.

In the second quarter, again, neither team did much offensively, and the play was similar to that of the first quarter. However, Sidney did a better job of controlling the inside and limiting Malcolm's chances, and were able to add to their lead, heading into the halftime intermission up 27-to-24. In the third quarter, Malcolm quickly tied the game at 31-to-31, and Sidney went back to shooting the ball from beyond the three-point arc, again to little effect. Malcolm was able to score and bury a three-point shot to take a six-point lead at 40-to-34, but fortunately for Sidney, the Clippers also started taking way too many three point shots, allowing Sidney to chip away and narrow the lead. In the final moments of the third period, senior Isak Doty connected on a three pointer to move within one at 40-to-39, and Sidney then had an opportunity to take the final shot and grab a lead. But junior Landon Riddle burned the clock down to take a final shot, and rather than passing or driving inside, he launched a three-point attempt that bounced off of the rim, ending the third period.

Sidney started the fourth quarter struggling to put in close shots, and Malcolm sank a three, to take a 45-to-39 lead. The Clippers then hit another from beyond the arc, giving them a nine point lead, and Sidney started to press. With about 3:30 left, sophomore Keian Kaiser came down awkwardly under the basket, smacking his head on the court and turning his ankle. He would not return to the game after this injury. Malcolm opened a 10-point lead at 50-to-40, before Reid Fiscus put in a three-point shot to narrow the lead to 7 points. Malcolm did a good job burning the clock down, and the only other points Sidney was able to score was two free throws by Fiscus with about a minute left. Malcolm moved the ball around well, forcing Sidney to foul. Malcolm was able to make their free throws down the stretch, and added another field goal while Sidney tried desperately to come back with three-point shots, all of which missed their mark. The game, and Sidney's season, ended with a final three-point miss by senior Isak Doty, in a 56-to-45 loss.

The Malcolm team did a great job preventing Sidney's biggest long-distance scoring threat, Isak Doty, from finding a rhythm by aggressively covering him, and the Red Raiders could not make up for the loss of his production. Doty finished with 12 points, and only hit three three-point shots. Both teams took far too many shots from beyond the arc, but Malcolm was able to hit a few more when it counted, which was the difference in this game. Sidney's strong inside play, which had powered the team to 21 wins, seemingly took a backseat to the long ball. And when Sidney was able get inside, they could not get the ball to fall through the hoop. Junior Reid Fiscus led the Sidney offense with 14 points. Sidney missed the strong inside play of Kaiser down the stretch, who was injured. Although it was a strong and successful season for the Red Raiders, the loss against Malcolm is going to sting for some time, and this season may very well be looked upon as one where Sidney could have went far in the State Tournament, but came up short in the District Finals.