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Lady Raiders edge Kimball in physical game

With less than 17 seconds remaining in the game, Sidney freshman Janay Brauer approached the free throw line.

With apparent ease, she calmly hit two shots – both swishes – giving the Sidney High School girls' basketball team (8-3, 1-0) a 5-point lead to secure its victory.

The perfect free throws marked her third and fourth within 10 seconds during Sidney's 52-47 victory over the Kimball High Lady Longhorns (6-1, 1-3) on Thursday night at the Cabela's Athletic Center.

In a physical and fast-paced game where the lead changed hands numerous times, the victory was sealed at the line.

"If you don't make them, it's a different game," Sidney head coach Tyler Shaw said, "and we're having a different conversation right now."

Both teams moved the ball efficiently throughout the game, and neither let the other hold onto the lead for long.

Although Sidney was up by as much as 9 early in the second quarter, the Lady Longhorns' full court press led to Lady Raider turnovers, which the visitors converted into points.

At the half, Sidney held a 3-point lead.

"We had ups and downs out there," Shaw said. "We had a few instances where we kind of had some defensive slip ups, but in general, we got stops when we needed to, got a few key rebounds and hit a few key shots down the stretch."

After swapping the lead twice, Kimball's aggressive defense put the Lady Raiders in bonus with 60 seconds remaining in the third period.

With the back-and-forth tone of the game, Shaw said he told his players to focus on fundamentals and not worry about the big picture.

"We just want to worry about doing little things right: passing the ball to our team, playing defense, matching up, not giving them easy shots," he said. "And if you do that, and you run your stuff right, you're going to get some shots."

And the Lady Raiders did – especially at the free throw line.

Junior Kelsey Knight and senior Genessa Schilz took turns with Brauer at the line, scoring precious points for Sidney in the final minutes of the game.

"I think we hit some shots and played as a team in the second half," Knight said. "And I think all around, we came together as a team."

Brauer said she was happy her free throws hit the mark.

"I just want to knock down the free throws because it's a big part of winning," she said.

Shaw said he had to give Kimball credit.

"They're a great team, and they're going to win a lot of games this year," he said.

He also hopes the game helps prepare his players for close games in the future.

"They were in a couple tough situations out there – [Kimball] hit a few shots, they closed it to a one-possession game a few times – but in general, these are the kinds of games that you hope prepare you for February, March and trying to get down to the state tournament."

While losses are always learning opportunities, narrow victories can also be teaching tools, he added.

"You can learn a lot from a win when it's close like that – you learn about yourself as a team down the stretch," he said.

The Lady Raiders host Gering tonight at 5:30 and travel to McCook on Saturday.

 

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