PAYBACK: Sidney blasts Alliance in season opener, defeating bulldogs, 60-46

ALLIANCE – When the Sidney Red Raiders boys’ basketball team traveled to Alliance on Thursday night, one question had to be on the mind of every Bulldogs fan as their “boys in blue” entered the locker room down by one point.

“This can’t be happening … Sidney can’t be beating us in our own house,” they likely thought.

Sidney did beat Alliance, however, by a large margin, as the Raiders trumped the Bulldogs, 60-46, on the road in the first round of the Western Conference Tournament.

The win sets up a second-round game tonight against Gering at 6:30 p.m. at Cougar Palace on the campus of Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff

Gering earned its second-round bid after beating Gross Catholic, 52-40.

In terms of the game Sidney brought to the boards against Alliance, a team that beat them 56-50 in the first round of district competition last year, it was all about rebounding and some big three-point shots from key players on the Raider’s squad.

Sidney head coach Erik Kohl said the win for the Raiders came thanks to solid play – and a whole lot of patience and rebounding in the second half.

“Usually we are a really good fast-break team,” Kohl said. “In the fourth quarter, though, we slowed down and were really patient setting some good screens. We got the ball quite a bit and really got some great looks. We kind of wore them down a little bit on their end. When they began feeling all that pressure, they began to shoot a little too quickly.”

After Alliance began their overshooting, Kohl said the Raiders capitalized by rebounding.

“Rebounding was our key,” Kohl added. “We weren’t going to win without rebounding and we won that battle.”

Comprehensive stats on the defense were not available by press time, but seniors Cutter O’Connell and Tyler Wintholz were major forces under the basket on both sides with rebounds and steals.

Senior Brady Radcliffe was the leading scorer for the Raiders, shooting for 17 points – a stat that included three 3-pointers, a six-of-eight showing from the key and a bucket.

In terms of three-pointers, O’Connell (10 points in the game) was on fire as well, nailing a pair of treys and shooting four-of-six from the line. Mitch Porter also dropped one from deep beyond the arc.

From the floor, Wintholz was the most dependable shooter, tossing up six deuces. He went two-of-eight in free-throw attempts.

Other scorers for Sidney were: Porter (7), Yeager Price (5), Zack Means (4) and Ryan Birner (3).

After the game, O’Connell said the win was a measure of revenge against the Bulldogs after last season’s district defeat.

“Coming into the game we knew their team was going to play great and that we might a little chip on our shoulder after last season,” O’Connell said. “They brought a lot of ball pressure to us and they were athletic but we knew we had to play tough, which we did.”

O’Connell also offered his opinion on why the Bulldogs were able to catch up late in the first half and enter the locker room down, 27-26.

“Their pressure dictated our offense a little bit and we were kind of pass-happy, so we couldn’t the flow going,” O’Connell added. “Once we settled down and relaxed that is when our offense kicked in, in the second half and we played very well.”

A win for Sidney tonight will send them to the championship game on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.