Sidney 1-1 In Weekend Action

Sometimes building up a big lead can lead to a big letdown. The Red Raiders almost learned that lesson the hard way, but were able to hold on for the win against an aggressive and determined Fort Morgan team Friday.

The Red Raiders were the favorites going into this non-conference matchup on Friday, but the Mustangs showed they were up for the challenge and never quit fighting, and almost pulled out the upset.

The game started fast for Fort Morgan as they opened up a lead midway through the first quarter and had the Red Raiders scrambling to keep pace. The Mustangs physical defense lead by senior Trey McBride caused Sidney to take some awkward shots and kept the Red Raiders off balance. At the end of the 1st quarter, the Mustangs led 12-11, leading the Red Raiders to make adjustments to neutralize the Mustang's aggressive defense and physicality in the paint.

In the second quarter, Sidney regained its composure and upped their tempo. The Red Raiders defense turned up the pressure forcing hurried and low percentage shots by the Mustangs. Sidney started to find their groove, converting their field goals and pulling away from the Mustangs.

At 5:47 left in the quarter, the Red Raiders had opened up a seven point lead. Fort Morgan couldn't get any good looks from the field while Sidney's defense prevented the Mustangs from grabbing any momentum away from the home team. At 3:04 left in the second, Sidney had extended their lead to 12, and continued to deny Fort Morgan any clean shots. At just under a minute left in the half, Sidney's Arik Doty buried a three-pointer to build their lead to 13 points. At halftime, Sidney led 32-21 and seemed firmly in control of the contest.

At the start of the second half, the Red Raiders looked to increase their lead and put away the Mustangs, but Fort Morgan had their own plans. A sloppy start to the second half had both teams trading turnovers and fouls. After the teams settled down, Sidney's Arik Doty delivered another three point bomb, and with the Red Raiders scoring on fast break opportunities, the Mustangs seemed to be getting worn down as the quarter progressed.

At 5:21 in the third quarter, the Red Raiders were up 42-25, and with Sidney's Mitch Porter swatting away yet another shot in the paint by Fort Morgan, it looked like the Mustangs were about to fold. But the Mustangs increased their defensive pressure, and were able to start clawing back to narrow their deficit. In the last few minutes of the quarter, the Mustangs heated up while the Red Raiders cooled off, and by the end of the quarter had narrowed Sidney's lead to 11.

In the final seconds of the game, Sidney's Mitch Porter was fouled while attempting a tie-breaking field goal. After Porter sank both free throws to make the score 50-48 to win the game.