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

The Lady Raiders pushed their winning streak to 12 as they defeated the Gering Lady Bulldogs and the Scottsbluff Lady Bearcats at home over the weekend. The victories pushed their season record to 18-and-2 and featured dominating defensive performances in both games.

On Friday, the 8-and-7 Lady Bulldogs made the trip south for their third tip-off of the season against the Lady Raiders. Sidney started strong, pulling out to a 5-to-0 lead. Senior Katelyn Sylvester was fouled attempting a three pointer then sank all three of the free throws.

The Lady Raiders went through a cold spell and the Lady Bulldogs were able to tie the game at seven each in the middle of the period. Sidney then went on a scoring burst to end the first quarter with an 18-to-11 lead. Gering opened the second quarter strong, and by the middle of the period they started to challenge Sidney for the lead, closing to within two points at 28-to-26. But the Lady Raiders hung tough with sophomore Karly Sylvester grabbing rebounds and putting up points. Gering was able to draw a shooting foul with a half second left in the half and sank both free throws to go into the break trailing by two 32-to-30.

Sidney continued the second half shooting the long ball, but Gering was able to match the Lady Raiders and tie the game, with both teams alternating three points hits and jump shots. The period was about to end with a Gering 42-to-41 lead when with two seconds remaining senior Meaghan Ross hit a three pointer from well beyond the arc to send the Lady Raiders into the final quarter with a 44-to-42 lead.

The Sidney girls clamped down on the Lady Bulldogs in the fourth quarter, with seniors Janay Brauer and Ross harassing the Gering offense. Gering would never challenge again as the Sidney girls played tough defense and made their free throws when sent to the line, and emerged with a 61-to-51 victory. Janay Brauer led the scoring for Sidney with 17 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, and Meaghan Ross scored 12 points and went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe in the fourth quarter in the Lady Raider's win.

Sidney then faced Scottsbluff, and the Lady Bearcats came out playing good defense and keeping close to the Lady Raiders for the first few minutes of the opening period. But in the last three minutes of the quarter, junior MJ Johnstone hit a three pointer which was followed by burst of scoring ending with Meaghan Ross' second three pointer at the end of the period to go up 17-to-8. Scottsbluff's quick two point start to the second quarter was immediately answered with Ross' third three pointer of the night. Ross hit her fourth three-point shot to extend the lead to 24-to-13. Sidney ended the half with a Janay Brauer three-pointer at the buzzer to take a 33-to-18 lead into the intermission.

The third quarter started with Brauer's hot hand hitting another three, but then both teams dialed up the defenses and slowed down the scoring. The Lady Raiders went into the fourth quarter leading 45-to-29. Sidney continued their outstanding defensive play in the fourth, clogging up the middle and constantly pressuring the Scottsbluff squad into turnovers and bad passes. Sidney cruised through the remaining minutes of the quarter, outscoring Scottsbluff 17-to-8 to notch the victory with a final score of 62-to-37. Ross led the Sidney scoring with 16 points including five three pointers, while junior Mattie Johnson had 10 points in the win.