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Lady Raiders Basketball Team Rolls In 2019

Sidney’s Lady Raider basketball team entered the new year rolling out three straight winning performances combining stifling defense and offensive balance to increase their season record to 11-and-2. Starting Thursday night on the road against Kimball, they were coming off a Cabela’s Holiday Shootout Tournament win, while the Lady Longhorns were idle over the Christmas break.

The Lady Raiders wasted no time, starting by rattling off 17 unanswered points on their way to a 27-to-7 advantage at the end of the first period. Sidney senior Janay Brauer hit three three pointers and senior Meaghan Ross hit two, while the Lady Raider’s defense forced turnovers and smothered the Lady Longhorn’s offense. Sidney poured it on in the second quarter, leading 41-to-13 going into the intermission. The second half continued the Lady Raider dominance, leading to a 68-to-28 victory for Sidney.

Sidney head coach Tyler Shaw commented after the game, “We did what we needed to do, we came out and hit some shots from the opening tip. We were able to force them into some turnovers that led to easy baskets.”

Junior Mattie Johnson led the scoring with 16 points, while sophomore Karly Sylvester had 11 coming off the bench in the win.

The Lady Raiders traveled to Gering on Friday, expecting another slugfest with the Lady Bulldogs after their first meeting of the season ended with a 69-to-60 double-overtime win for Sidney. But this game was nothing like the first, with Sidney starting hot and building a commanding 30-to-9 lead at the end of the first quarter on shutdown defense and three pointers by junior Nicole Birner and Brauer. Sidney continued to execute while Gering struggled to score, ending the first half with a Sidney 41-to-24 lead.

The second quarter continued with Sidney scoring at will, while Gering struggled to manage any offense. The third period ended with Sidney up comfortably 55-to-31, and coach Shaw started to substitute early in the fourth quarter. With Sidney up 61-to-35, Gering went on a 12-to-0 run until Shaw switched lines and put his starters back in the game. Sidney was able to break Gering’s momentum by scoring a few points, and in the end the Lady Raiders were able to outlast a late surge in a game that they led by 27 points earlier, for a 66-to-61 victory. Janay Brauer led the Sidney scoring with 17 points in the win.

Saturday had the Lady Raiders hosting the McCook Lady Bison, and Sidney had one of their notoriously slow starts, trailing 12-to-10 at the end of first quarter. Fortunately, they caught fire in the second quarter scoring 25 points while stifling the McCook offense, limiting the Lady Bison to just three points and putting them down 35-to-15 at the half. The scoring continued with the Lady Raiders tacking on another 34 points in the second half to cruise to a 69-to-29 win. Meaghan Ross drained four 3 pointers while Nicole Birner and Janay Brauer led the defense with four and three steals each in the victory.

The Lady Raiders host Ogallala on Friday at the Cabela’s Perfomance Center at Sidney High School.

 

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