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

Sidney's Lady Raider Girls Basketball team improved their record to 16-and-1 on the season with three easy wins over the past week. Starting on Tuesday, January 25, the Lady Raiders hosted Torrington for a make-up of a postponed game from December.

It was the Lady Raider defense that impressed against the Lady Trailblazers, holding the visitors' offense to single digit scoring in each quarter. After building a big lead after the first period, the Lady Raiders poured it on and Torrington never threatened, with Sidney easily pulling away with a 57-to-25 win. The Lady Raider defense disrupted Torrington the entire game, scoring nearly half of their points off of Torrington turnovers. Sidney also dominated under the boards, and put up 22 points on offensive rebounds. Senior Reese Riddle led the scoring with 14 points in the win.

Next, Sidney traveled north and matched up with the much taller Chadron Cardinals on Friday, but the Sidney speed and fast-break offense was no match for Chadron, scoring on layups and shots from inside the paint. Sidney built a big 30-to-13 lead at the half, and continued to score through the second half on their way to a 53-to-31 win. Riddle again led the scoring with 15 points in the win.

Finally, the Lady Raiders hosted Brush on Saturday, and quickly built an insurmountable lead as they opened the game with a 23-to-2 run. The Sidney defense forced turnovers, disrupted the Lady Beetdiggers' offense, and held them down to just two points in the second half. A three point hit by junior Karsyn Leeling started the 40-point running clock midway through the third period as Sidney cruised to a 68-to-15 win. Sophomore Kayla Westby buried five three pointers and scored 18 points to lead the Sidney offense in the win. The Lady Raiders were scheduled to host Yuma on Wednesday.