Scottsbluff pulls away from Raiders in late going

SCOTTSBLUFF — With Thursday night’s scrap against visiting Sidney hanging in the balance, Scottsbluff High School’s boys’ basketball team just Hadden-ough to get past the Red Raiders.

Senior Michael Hadden scored 11 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter, and the defending Class B champions pulled away for a 79-68 victory.

Thursday’s contest marked teams’ second meeting in six evenings; the Bearcats had rallied for a 54-50 win Jan. 26 in Sidney, a game the Raiders led most of the way.

The second time around, Sidney (11-6) held four leads in the first quarter, but Scottsbluff (13-3) scored six unanswered points to net a 21-19 lead at the first break.

Sidney couldn’t get over the hump for the rest of the half, and the Bearcats kept their collective heads above water with a 38-35 halftime edge.

An Eric Moreno 3-pointer — the senior buried five treys in a 24-point effort — and Matthew Klein layup midway through the third quarter spiked Scottsbluff’s lead to 49-42. Erik Kohl’s club forged ties at 49 and 51 with baskets from Sam Arterburn and Logan Lewis, respectively, before a 3-pointer from Lane Harvey produced the final Raiders’ lead at 54-53.

Scottsbluff answered with another 6-0 run, and still held that three-point edge, 59-56, heading into the final period.

A three-point play from Arterburn trimmed the hosts’ lead to 64-62 with 6 minutes, 17 seconds remaining, but enter Hadden.

Each time Sidney scored, Hadden had a response, and his personal eight-point surge, coupled with a Klein score, gave the Bearcats an insurmountable 74-66 lead at the two-minute mark.

Twice Hadden scored on questionable three-point plays.

Sidney’s Paxton Ehler acted in disbelief after being called for a hand-check on the first, and the second came on a block-charge call that went against the Raiders’ Logan Lewis, after two similar Bearcats trips produced similar contact with no whistle.

Still, play came down to Sidney sorely needing defensive stops, something it couldn’t accomplish.

“We kept saying during timeouts that we had to get two or three (consecutive) stops,” Kohl said. “Unfortunately, we’d maybe get one, maybe two, but never three. Scottsbluff just grinded it out and got really good shots, and they hit some tough shots.

“They executed a little bit better than we did. There were some times on ball screens that we wouldn’t quite execute in the paint defensively and they got layup opportunities.

“It was a real good learning experience, and there’s a reason why Scottsbluff is the No. 2 (Class B) team in the state,” Kohl said.

Hadden’s splendid effort was one of three double-digit performances from Scottsbluff. Moreno added 24, Klein 14.

Four Sidney starters were in twin digits. Lewis led the way with 15 points on the interior, Ehler and Casey Mabey added 14 each and Arterburn pitched in a dozen.

“Logan had some early foul problems, sat most of the second quarter, but played his tail off and rebounded well,” Kohl said. “He got a ton of points in the paint, and that’s where we don’t score a lot.”

The Raiders’ coach said his club played well on the road, but just ran into a juggernaut.

“This was one of our best offensive games this year, but the way they shot caused problems for us defensively,” Kohl said. “These were 32 minutes of great basketball. If you looked at the scoreboard, you’d think neither team was playing good defense. It wasn’t like that at all.”

Sidney is right back at it tonight, hosting Gering in the fourth meeting between the teams.

Scottsbluff 79, Sidney 68

SIDNEY (11-6)

Mabey 6 0-0 14, Harvey 3 0-0 9, Ehler 6 0-0 14, Lewis 7 1-2 15, Arterburn 4 3-3 12, Wintholz 2 0-0 4.Totals 28 4-5 68

SCOTTSBLUFF (13-3)

Winkler 2 1-2 5, T. Mickey 2 2-2 6, Klein 6 1-2 14, Moreno 9 0-0 24, Hadden 10 6-7 26, Clarkson 1 0-0 2, Lofink 1 0-1 3. Totals 31 10-14 79

Sidney 19 16 21 12—68

Scottsbluff 21 17 21 20—79

3-point goals — Sidney 8 (Harvey 3, Mabey 2, Ehler 2, Arterburn). Scottsbluff 7 (Moreno 5, Klein, Lofink). Team fouls — Sidney 17, Scottsbluff 9