Lady Raiders Turn Back Mitchell, 46-38

SIDNEY – The Sidney girls’ basketball team fought off an attacking Mitchell offense to pull out a 46-38 victory Saturday at Cabela’s Athletic Facility.

The Tigers (10-12) scored all but two of their points in the paint or on free throws that were a result of shot attempts in the paint. In fact, Mitchell only took a small handful of shots from outside the entire game.

“They did a good job hammering the ball inside against us,” said Sidney head coach Tyler Shaw. “Give them credit. They scouted us well, so we had to make an adjustment.

“I’m just glad that as the game went on we were able to lock that down a little bit.”

Mitchell’s strategy had the Tigers ahead 7-6 early, but the Lady Raiders went on an 8-2 run to go ahead 14-9.

Sidney did not trail again.

The Lady Raiders (12-7) played the game without junior starters Morgan Linneman and Jeni Heeren, who sat out with injuries, but it didn’t matter.

Shaw simply pushed sophomores Sarah Mahr and Abbi Porter forward into the starting lineup of the Lady Raiders’ 13-player rotation, and they carried on.

Mahr, in fact, led Sidney with 15 points to go with five rebounds. Mahr scored six of Sidney’s 16 first-quarter points, as the Lady Raiders built a 16-11 lead.

“That’s a pretty good effort from a sophomore,” Shaw said. “She’s very quick to the basket. She hit a couple outside shots early. They had to respect her a little bit. That made her more dangerous on the drive.”

Junior forward Karissa Segelke complemented Mahr with 13 points and eight rebounds in the post, and Porter added six points and six rebounds.

Sidney led 23-16 at halftime but created some breathing room in the third when senior guard Leah Uhlir connected on a 3-pointer that put the Lady Raiders ahead 33-20.

Mitchell would battle back to within eight points on a couple of occasions, but Sidney did not allow the Tigers any closer.

Andee Grentz led the Tigers with 17 points, but the Tigers lost the rebounding battle 36-28 and the turnover battle 14-6.

Sidney has won three of its past four games. The Lady Raiders played Scottsbluff at Cabela’s Athletic Facility Monday night, but the game was not completed at press time.

Heeren and Linneman also sat out Monday night’s game. Shaw said he hopes to have both players back for the playoffs.

Sidney 46, Mitchell 38

Mitchell    11-5-11-11–38

Sidney    16-7-12-11–46

Mitchell – Andee Grentz 17, Nicole Houston 9, Liz Cunningham 6, Chalsey Grentz 4, McKenna Zulkowski 2.

Sidney – Sarah Mahr 15, Karissa Segelke 13, Abbi Porter 6, Leah Uhlir 6, Madi Malzahn 5, Hannah Riley 1.

Lady Raiders Come Up Just Short Against Chadron

CHADRON – Down two starters, the Sidney girls’ basketball team still had a chance to hand Chadron its first loss of the season Friday night.

The Lady Raiders (12-7) trailed by just three points with about 20 seconds to play before Chadron pulled away for a 55-48 win.

Junior forward Karissa Segelke led Sidney with 13 points and 14 rebounds, and sophomore guard Sarah Mahr added 11 points and seven rebounds.

“Chadron’s probably the best team in this part of the state,” said Sidney head coach Tyler Shaw. “Our kids played great. They handled the press. We had our lowest number of turnovers against one of the best presses out there. We were in the game until the very end.”

The Lady Raiders only had 14 turnovers on the night, but they had no answer for Chadron’s Ashlea Kerr, who led the Cardinals (21-0) with 24 points.

The Lady Raiders played the game without junior starters Jeni Heeren and Morgan Linneman, who both sat out with injuries.

Chadron 55, Sidney 48

Sidney    16-9-7-16–48

Chadron    11-16-12-16–55

Sidney – Karissa Segelke 13, Sarah Mahr 11, Leah Uhlir 9, Abbi Porter 7, Katelin Cole 3, Kylee Price 3, Cody Rowley 2.

Chadron – Ashlea Kerr 24, Jamie McLain 11, Briley Hannaford 10, Bailea Kerr 3, Alia Brennan 3, Ashlyn Eitemiller 2, Peyton Hinn 2.