Lady Raiders push win streak to five

LEXINGTON – The Sidney Lady Raiders extended their winning streak to five games over the weekend with a pair of victories over non-district opponents.

The Raiders led much of the way against the Ogallala Indians (9-4) on Friday night at the Cabela’s Athletic Facility before they had to ward off a fourth-quarter comeback attempt in a 52-47 victory. On Saturday at Lexington (1-12), the Raiders also led much of the way. But when the Minutemaids rallied to seize the lead in the fourth quarter, it was the Raiders who had to mount a comeback to earn a 47-43 win.

Much like the Raiders’ boys a few hours later, the Lady Raiders ultimately won the day with their depth. Though Minutemaids’ junior Hannah Ostrom often proved a handfull with 26 points, no other Lexington player scored more than four points.

“I knew (Ostrom) was really good and they’re a well coached team,” said Raiders head coach Tyler Shaw. “(Lexington’s) had a challenging schedule up to now so I knew they were better than they appeared.”

In the end, Sidney had too much from too many to be denied. Kelsey Knight led the Raiders in scoring with 15 points while Emily Mahr was close by with 14. Mahr helped key the Sidney comeback run with nine of her points in the fourth quarter. Savanna Rosenbaum and Maddi Porter added to the Raiders scoring depth with eight and seven points respectively.

With another victory salted away, the Raiders have five days in which to concentrate on their battle for District B-6 supremacy. Sidney will travel to Scottsbluff to meet the Lady Bearcats in a battle of distict unbeaten’s on Friday. Sidney is 3-0 in district play and 9-5 overall while Scottsbluff is 5-0 in B-6 and 5-4 on the season.

With the Raiders holding a 27-19 lead at the half, Lexington whittled the margin to three after 24 minutes. The Minutemaids rally proved itself in earnest opening the final quarter when they started on a 7-0 run. Lexington led by as many as five points with 4:16 left in the game before Mahr began to warm up.

“I think we kind of relaxed a little bit in the second half,” said Mahr. “They challeged us all night. But we all just knew we could win. I was just fortunate to start hitting my shots at the right time.”

Mahr began her nine-point frame from the free-thrown line by hitting a pair to bring the Raiders to within three at 39-36. For Sidney it was the start of a 9-0 spurt which helped seal the win.

“She’s developing into quite a player,” said Shaw of Mahr. “The other teams haven’t really paid much attention to her.”

Sidney 52, Ogallala 47

The Raiders had things much their own way over the first three quarters with Ogallala before the Indians began a fiece comeback attempt over the final eight minutes.

Maddie Stafford, who took advantage of several fast-break opportunities, picked up 14 points to lead the Raiders. Maddi Porter and Emily Mahr each had nine and Annalise Lecher six.

Sidney’s game at Scottsbluff is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.