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WEEKEND BASKETBALL ROUNDUP - Sidney boys drop road game at Fort Morgan

FOR THE SUN-TELEGRAPH

The Sidney Red Raiders may have started the winter break a little too early as a flat second half sealed their fate at Fort Morgan, Colorado with a 61-50 loss to the Mustangs.

The Raiders played the Mustangs to a draw over the first two quarters at 25-25. But the hot hands of Eric Kembel and post player Joey Snyder helped move the needle in the other direction as the Mustangs took a six-point lead after three frames. They tacked on another five points to their lead in the fourth quarter.

“After our game at Alliance the night before, I thought we played our kind of basketball,” said Sidney head coach Erik Kohl referring to the 73-51 win over the Bulldogs. “But I was disappointed on Friday. I thought our effort was low and we had some behavior issues which just isn’t like us.”

Despite the final setback, however, the Raiders have opened the season strong with a 5-2 overall record. The win at Alliance on Thursday evened their district slate at 1-1.

Cutter O’Connell led the Raiders in scoring with 15 points. Tyler Wintholz (12) and Cody Frerichs (10) also finished the game in double figures.

Sidney took a two-point edge after the first eight minutes of play at 15-13. A 12-10 advantage for the Mustangs in the second quarter knotted the contest at 25-25 at the break. Fort Morgan’s 11-point advantage in the second half decided the matter.

“We let them hang around in the second half and they started gaining confidence after hitting a few shots,” Kohl said. “We had a film session this morning and I was able to point out a lot of lapses that I don’t usually see from this team.”

The Raiders take to the court again on Jan. 2, as they host the Cabela’s Holiday Tournament. They will take on a tough Class C1 opponent in Gothenburg (5-1) to open their tournament on Friday night at 7 p.m.

The Lady Raider team (3-4) saw its record slip below .500 as it let a fourth-quarter lead slip away in the final moments to the Fort Morgan Mustangs in a non-district game.

Host Fort Morgan (1-6) earned its first win of the season 48-42 with a good opening and strong final push.

The Red Raiders return to the hardwood on Jan 2, when they host Gothenburg in the annual Cabela’s Holiday Tournament.

Leyton

The Warriors boys’ team upped its record to 3-0 in district play with a win over Banner County on Friday before struggling against Class C2 powerhouse Hemingford on Saturday.

The Warriors overall record dropped below .500 with the 83-58 loss to Hemingford.

On Friday, the Warriors took control of the contest in the second and third quarters to post a 48-40 win over Banner County. After fighting to an 8-8 draw after eight minutes, Leyton wrested control of the game with identical 14-9 scores in the middle frames and were never again headed.

The Lady Warriors split a pair of games over the weekend with a win at district rival Banner County and a loss to Class C2 Hemingford on the road.

The Warriiors easily disposed of Banner County on Friday 60-33 to up their district mark to 2-1. The 69-19 loss to Hemingford on Saturday dropped the Warriors to 3-4 overall.

Potter-Dix

Despite moving up to the 2A/1A Lower Platte league this season, the Caliche Buffaloes reamin as tough as ever as Potter-Dix found out on Friday night.

The Coyotes boys dropped their contest at Iliff, Colorado 72-39 to fall to 2-4 on the young season. Potter-Dix still looks strong in D1 District 12, however, as it maintains a 2-1 league mark. Caliche now stands at 5-1.

Potter-Dix will have plenty of time to regroup with the long holiday break. The Coyotes step back on the court against Bayard on Jan. 9 with a tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Lady Coyotes had their five-game winning streak snapped against perennially strong Caliche Friday in a 72-20 loss at Illiff, Colo.

Despite the loss, the Coyotes maintain a hold on the top spot lin the district with a 3-0 record. Their overall mark slipped to 5-1.

Peetz

The Bulldogs boys’ team finished the pre-holiday portion of their schedule in good form with a 73-60 win over league rival Prairie Mustangs in New Raymer, Colo., on Friday.

The Bulldogs advance their overall record to 4-2 while they remain unbeaten in 1A North Central play at 2-0.

The Lady Bulldogs struggled offensively on Friday as they dropped a 33-21 contest to league rival Prairie.

Peetz overall mark is now even at 3-3 while its district record stands at 1-1.

 

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