Red Raiders Stay Undefeated

Sidney's Red Raider Basketball teams continued their strong opening to the season, with both the boys and girls squads downing Torrington and Alliance over the past week.

On Friday, December 15, the Sidney teams traveled up to Torrington, and the Lady Raiders started the action. Sidney sprinted out to an 11-0 lead on the strength of fast break scoring opportunities. Although the Lady Raiders didn't have their best shooting - percentage wise, the aggressive Sidney defense kept the Lady Trailblazers on their heels, and the Lady Raiders built a sizable lead in the first half. The Sidney scoring continued into the second half, and it wasn't until well into the third quarter that Torrington finally started to chip into the Sidney lead. It wasn't nearly enough to change the outcome of the game as the Lady Raiders cruised to a 55-to-39 win. Sidney forced 35 turnovers against Torrington, their highest of the young season. Junior Carli Black was the high-scorer, tallying 19 points in the victory.

The Red Raiders also had a big win against the Trailblazers, taking a lead midway through the first quarter and never trailing afterward.. Up by four at the half, Sidney had a great third quarter, with sophomore Keian Kaiser putting in 15 points in the frame to open a 10 point lead going into the fourth quarter. The Red Raiders kept up the pressure and pulled away in the fourth, earning a 20 point win, 59-to-39. Kaiser led the offense with 27 points in the victory.

On Saturday, the Sidney teams hosted Alliance, and the Lady Raiders opened the action with a much better shooting performance than in Friday's matchup at Torrington. The shooting was hot for the Lady Raiders, burying six of nine shots, including two successful three point shots, and built a 21-to-12 lead at the end of the first period. The Lady Raiders' defense shut down the Alliance offense, limiting the Lady Bulldogs to single digit scores in the remaining three periods. Senior Karsyn Leeling was the leading scorer with 17 points and, defensively, disrupted the Lady Bulldogs' offense all game long.

The Red Raiders finished the night with a big win against the Bulldogs. Both teams started slowly on offense, with Alliance matching the Sidney scoring in the early going. Perhaps it was the long trip back from Torrington the previous night, but the Sidney offense looked sluggish in the first quarter, with missed shots and turnovers keeping Alliance in the game. The Red Raiders finally seemed to get in sync in the second quarter, and were able to build a 33-to-26 lead at the halftime break. In the third quarter, Sidney turned it on and put the game out of reach. The Red Raiders outscored the Bulldogs by 20 points in the second half to earn the 76-to-49 win. Senior Luke Uhlir, junior Landon Riddle and sophomore Alek Doty each had 15 points in the victory.

Sidney was scheduled to host Gering on Tuesday night, then travel to Holdrege on Thursday.