SCOTTSBLUFF – The Sidney Lady Raiders and Red Raiders earned their way into Saturday’s championship games of the Western Conference Tournament at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff. The Lady Raiders squared off against Gering for the second time this season while the Red Raiders faced Scottsbluff for the first time. The Lady Raider defense frustrated the Bulldogs to clinch the tournament title with a 60-38 win. The Red Raiders offense struggled while the Scottsbluff knocked down 10 three pointers in a 70-48 loss to the Bearcats.

The Lady Raiders and Bulldogs battled in Gering on the opening weekend of the basketball season, with Sidney holding on for a 67-66 win. In a game that was a benchmark for how far have we come, the Lady Raider defense held Gering’s leading scorers, Makenzie Todd (12.2 ppg) and Jacey Cochran (12.5 ppg) to a total of 10 points on the afternoon.

Sidney’s winning margin would have been even larger had it not been for a dreadful night from the free throw line. The Lady Raiders made only seven of their 23 free throw attempts. Sidney was led by Kierra Schrader, who saw limited time because of foul trouble, with 10 points, and Regan Nesbitt who finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.

SIDNEY – Ashlynn Weinbender 3, Jordynn Schnell 6, Kierra Schrader10, Carli Black 6, Ryan Dillehay 7, Taylor Sprenger 0, Kayla Westby 7, Rylan Misegadis 9, Zoey Christensen 0, Lilee Wieser 2, Regan Nesbitt 10
GERING – Aubrey Anderson 0, Makenzie Todd 7, Jacelyn Brown 9, Kamry Lopez 3, Ivy Bruckner, Lyricca Stands 0, Jacey Cochran 3, Keira Baard 10

The Red Raiders opened the contest against Scottsbluff scoring the first six points of the game. A pair of threes by junior Rylee Meininger and another by sophomore Tre Boswell propelled a Bearcats 15-3 run to end the first quarter with a six-point lead.

Scottsbluff held Sidney to just 8 points in the second period while leading scorer Nate Kelly scored eight of his game high 19 points to give the Bearcats a 33-17 advantage at intermission. Sidney closed the gap to 49-36 after three periods but Boswell hit three long-range jumpers to spur a 21-point final quarter to secure the win. Alek Doty paced the Red Raiders with 14 points. Keian Kaiser finished with 9 points.

SIDNEY - Reid Fiscus 6, Kash Knobbe 3, Landon Riddle 4, Lance Holly 6, Alek Doty 14, Keian Kaiser 9, Rhys Dorcey 0, Grahm Santero 0, Kale Kaiser 0, Kyle Jaggers 6
SCOTTSBLUFF – Caleb Burda 6, Rylee Meininger 13, Dez Smith 4, Esai Sabala 2, Eric Sabala 1, Nate Kelley 19, George Schmall 0, Tre Boswell 17, Domingo Gomez 0, Oliver Carpenter 0, Kobe Strom 0, Keon Dalgado 6, Ryan Hinman 2