Sidney's Lady Raider Basketball team faced Scottsbluff in the Subdistrict B-8 Championship Game on February 21.
After avenging a two-point overtime loss in the beginning of the season with an 11-point victory at home on February 8, the Lady Raiders were matched up against the scrappy Lady Bearcats in the subdistrict final for the second year in a row.
Sidney again started the game slowly, with the visitors jumping out to a quick 5-to-0 lead before the Lady Raiders got their offense on track and started to score. Sidney surged past Scottsbluff during the middle of the period, but a few timely three-point hits kept the Lady Bearcats close, ending the first quarter down by one, 16-to-15.
Scottsbluff started the second period with a three pointer that was then followed by two consecutive scores by Sidney senior Mattie Johnson to give Sidney a 20-to-18 lead. But the Lady Raiders' offense went cold and Scottsbluff went on run, capped by a three point hit at the end of the half to take a 38-to-29 lead.
Sidney was plagued by sloppy passing while the Lady Bearcats applied a lot of pressure and their speedy defense disrupted the Sidney offense. Even when Sidney was able to manage a score, Scottsbluff fired right back, preventing the Lady Raiders from closing the gap.
Sidney started to claw back, but Scottsbluff's aggressive and physical defense continued to disrupt Sidney's offensive rhythm while taking advantage of the officials' seeming unwillingness to call fouls on the Scottsbluff squad. More importantly, the Scottsbluff team seemed to be a step quicker than the Sidney girls, grabbing rebounds, loose balls, and dictating the pace of the game. Unable to narrow the deficit, Sidney went into the fourth quarter and again had each of their scores answered immediately by the Lady Bearcats. As time slipped away, Sidney started to force their shots, trying for three point hits and getting frustrated. Scottsbluff continued to score as the time wound down, and the Lady Bearcats defeated Sidney in the Subdistrict Finals for the second year in a row, this time by a decisive 64-to-48 final score.
Senior Mattie Johnson led the Sidney offense with 15 points, but a whopping 25 turnovers and a 6-for-13 performance at the charity stripe were too much for Sidney to overcome. Scottsbluff's Yara Garcia led all scorers with 17 points and the Lady Bearcats hit nine three point shots in the victory.
Sidney still earned a home district final game, and hosted the Blair Lady Bears on Saturday at the Cabela's Athletic Center. Blair boasted a 14-and-10 record against some of the toughest competition in Class B, as well as playing games against Class A opponents. Blair started the game with a quick score, only to be answered back with a Mattie Johnson three point basket. Scores were hard to come by for both teams, and this pattern continued throughout the game with both teams playing physical and tight defense. The first period ended with a one point Sidney lead, 12-11. Sidney junior Karly Sylvester started the second period by banging down a three pointer at the top of the key to extend the Sidney lead to 15-to-11, but Blair hit back with two points from sophomore Mya Larson.
Blair patiently passed the ball to set their offense, but the Sidney defense led by Sylvester and senior Kendra Nesbitt shut down any scoring attempts as soon as Blair tried to go inside. The Sidney squad that got pushed around and out-hustled on Tuesday dialed up the intensity and speed and started to frustrate the Blair team. After a possession that had Sidney finally score after grabbing four offensive rebounds, Sidney had opened a 21-to-13 lead with 5:30 left in the half.
Sidney sophomore Brynna Ross drilled another three pointer followed by a Nesbitt free throw. Sidney had the last possession of the half and after senior MJ Johnstone ran the clock down, she passed the ball to Ross for a three point attempt. Blair anticipated the move, and bottled up Ross. But Ross was able to get off a cross court pass to senior Nicole Birner, and Birner put up a three point attempt that found the hoop at the buzzer, giving Sidney a 28-to 15 halftime lead. Sidney Head Coach Tyler Shaw slowed the pace in the second half, leaning on the strong Lady Raiders' defense while taking as much time off the clock as possible on offense. The Blair squad chipped away at the lead, but started to rack up fouls. Blair narrowed the gap to just five points at the end of the third quarter, but Sidney started the fourth quarter already in the bonus. The fourth quarter followed in similar fashion, with Sidney holding on to the ball as long as possible while Blair aggressively went for points as quickly as possible. But the Sidney defense held firm and the offense scored enough points to keep the Lady Bears at bay, and Sidney was able to secure the 34-to-28 victory and punch their ticket to the State Tournament. Mattie Johnson again led the Sidney scoring with 14 points, and outstanding defense by Nesbitt and Sylvester secured the win. The state tournament starts on March 5.
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