Sidney corrals Chase County at home

Firing on all cylinders from the get go, the Red Raiders advanced their record to 3-1 with a 49-27 victory over the Chase County Longhorns in a non-district matchup Friday night.

The Raiders broke a 7-7 tie in the final minutes of the first quarter at the Cabela's Athletic Facility with 10 unanswered points to take a lead they would never relinquish.

Katelin Cole ended the first period scoring with three pointer she was also the last to flex the net in the next eight minutes. Cole's two pointer ending the second frame gave the Raiders a 28-13 heading in for the halftime break.

By scoring the first 8 points of the second half, Sidney's lead bulged to 23 points at 36-13. The Longhorns managed the final 6 points of the contest, but by then the die had already long been cast.

"They beat us in volleyball, so we know they had some good athletes," said the Raiders Abbi Porter. "We wanted to come out and work hard against them and that's what we did."

At the Western Conference Tournament last week Porter broke the school record for blocks in a game with 8 against Scottsbluff. Her total against Chase County was again impressive with 7, while she blocked 5 more versus Alliance. The previous Raiders record was held by Marjorie Keaton who blocked 6 shots in 2010.

"I guess it's just a lot of the volleyball player in me," Porter said of her ability to block shots.

The Raiders were helped on their way to victory by improved foul shooting over their previous outings. They began by going 7-9 in the opening quarter. The last free throw of the period was dropped by Sarah Mahr after she completed a three-point play. Her conversion was the point that broke the early 7-7 deadlock, putting Sidney on the road to a blowout.

Mahr collected 7 points for the Raiders in the first period. Her final bucket came when she received a long quarterback-like throw from Maddie Stafford while two steps from the basket. Seconds later Cole's three from the right side ended the first period scoring.

"What we show as leaders will hopefully translate to the younger players," said senior Cody Rowley. "There are a lot of schools in this area that are good so you have to be prepared every night."

The Raiders kept up the pressure in quarter two, depite giving up an early 4 points. Cole, Rowley, Ashley Stafford, Porter and Cole answered the opening salvo by Chase County to give the Raiders a 15-point lead at the half.

Savanna Rosenbaum kept up the solid free throw shooting in frame three by sinking Sidney's only two attempts. An Emily Mahr three pointer and a Porter Layup concluding the third quarter extended the Raider lead to 24 points. Sidney took their largest lead of the game at 28 points with 3:13 left in the game on two Emily Mahr foul shots before the Longhorns ended the game on a 6-0 run.

"I feel like we were just ready tonight," Cole said. "There's a lot of help from the crowd when we play here and everybody's cheering. We can really feed off the energy at home."

Sarah Mahr was tops on the scoring sheet for Sidney with 13 points. Cole, Rowley and Porter followed with 10, 9 and 6 points, respectively. Maddie Stafford, Sarah Mahr and Rowley each had 3 assists.

Mahr yanked down 9 rebounds to lead part of the defensive charge while Rowley grabbed 6 and Porter5. Besides Porter's 7, Rowley was the only other Raider with a block.

The Raiders are back in the friendly confines on Thursday when they meet district opponent Alliance at 5:30 p.m. At the Western Conference Tournament, Sidney edged the Bulldogs 47-43 in overtime.

Girls Basketball

Sidney 49

Chase Co. 27