The Sidney Sun-Telegraph - Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper

With the loss of key starters from last year's squad, the Red Raider basketball team knew they would have to make adjustments and find players to fill key roles if they were to be successful this season. Early on in the season, the team is still searching for the right mix to get themselves in the win column.

On Friday, Sidney hosted the Chase County Longhorns in a non-league matchup, hoping to put the pieces together for their first victory of the season. The game turned into a low-scoring defensive struggle highlighted by a second and fourth quarter that saw Chase County pull away from the Sidney challenge. After a low scoring first period that had Sidney trailing by two points, the Longhorns were able to pull away in the second quarter for a 23-to-11 halftime lead. In the third quarter, the teams again battled with very little scoring, but the fourth quarter again saw the Longhorns pull ahead and put away the Red Raiders for good with a final score of 45-to-25.

Sidney had a chance for that elusive first win, but would have to best a tough Sterling, Colo. team that has started their season with a perfect record. Sterling's height and speed advantage was quickly evident, as they started with a 12-to-0 run to open the game, with fast break points and three-pointers rocking Sidney back on their heels.

By the end of the first period, Sterling had built a 21-to-8 lead, while Sidney head coach Austin Lewis rallied his team and made adjustments. Sidney started to battle back, hitting three pointers of their own to start to close the gap against the Tigers, and by midway through the period had cut the Sterling lead to 21-to-17. But the Tigers roared back, and went on a 17-to-0 run, and kept pushing their fast-break offense to head into the half with a big lead, 45-to-23. Sterling added another 30 points against Sidney's 13 in the second half to coast to a 75-to-36 final score.

Sidney tries again to get in the win column Friday as they host the Ft. Morgan Mustangs at Sidney High School.