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Sidney Falls to Chadron

Raiders Survive Brush Late Rally

Sidney's Red Raider Basketball team hosted the 7-and-8 Chadron Cardinals on Friday and neither team could put points on the board to start the game.

After three full minutes of missed shots and turnovers, Chadron finally connected with a three point shot, but Sidney responded by going a run to tie and then open a lead. Chadron battled back at the end of the period, but Sidney senior Skylar Hieneman's jumper at the buzzer put the Raiders ahead 12-to-9. The second quarter continued the defensive struggle, but Chadron started to get an offensive rhythm going and pulled past Sidney. Sidney kept trying for three point hits after getting shut down inside, and a low-scoring 10-to-2 second quarter gave the Cardinals a 19-to-14 lead at the half.

The second half continued the Cardinal offensive success and the Sidney struggle to score, and the Raiders fell behind 33-to-16 with 1:30 left in the third period. A brief offensive outburst by Sidney with a three point hit by sophomore Sawyer Dickman followed by a two point jump shot at the buzzer by junior Zach Burke narrowed the score to 37-to-22 at the end of the third period. But Sidney could not mount any type of rally to close the game, committing a whopping 15 fouls in the second half and 18 turnovers in the game and fell by a final score of 55-to-38. Heineman and Burke led the scoring for Sidney with 10 points each, while Chadron senior Cooper Heusman had 17 points for the Cardinals.

The Red Raiders traveled to Brush, Colo., to take on the Beetdiggers, a struggling team with a 2-and-10 record. The Raiders were able to capitalize on offense, exploiting holes in the Beetdigger defense and openend a 13-to-11 lead after the first period. The Sidney pace continued, with the offense continuing to score and the defense holding back the Beetdiggers to get the Raiders up with a 39-to-31 lead going into the fourth quarter. Sidney built up a 12 point lead halfway through the final period, but then Brush started to gain momentum, with its offense starting to convert while the defense harassed the Raiders, causing turnovers and miscues, and with under a minute in the game, Brush's Alfonso Saucedo hit a three pointer to make it a one possession game at 54-to-51. Brush made it 54-to-53 in the final seconds, but after Burke missed on a free throw opportunity, Brush raced down the court but could not get off a final shot, and Sidney survived with a 54-to-53 road victory, their second of the season. Heineman led the Raiders with 12 points in the win.

Sidney Head Coach Austin Lewis said after the game, "Brush made a last ditch effort to get back in the game with a full court press, and it was effective. They turned us over a number of times in the fourth quarter, and after Burke missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 5 seconds left, they tried to take the lead but fortunately couldn't get a shot off. It's nice for our kids to get another win."

Sidney's record improves to 2-and-16 on the year, and they travel on Friday to face Gering then on Saturday they travel to Scottsbluff.

(CORRECTION: In previous editions, Sidney senior Eli Ahrens was misidentified as Arik Doty. We apologize for the error.)

 

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