– Printed in The Alliance Times Herald –
The AHS Freshman Boys Basketball team competed in the semifinal round last night in the AMS Gym against the second-seeded Sidney Red Raiders. The Bulldogs fought hard, and competed well against Sidney throughout the game. However, Sidney would manage to score when it mattered, late in the 4th quarter, to defeat the Bulldogs 42-32.
AHS 10 12 2 8 –32
SHS 11 8 7 16 –42
After Cole Randall converted one of two foul shots from the free throw line, the Bulldogs were off and running, but it didn’t take Sidney long for an answer. The Red Raiders quickly jumped out on an 8-0 scoring run to take an 8-1 lead. Cody Henderson would silence the Red Raider run by jarring a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs their first field goal of the game. Three consecutive layups by Randall and Michael Gomez would even the game at 10 a piece. Sidney, however, would regain the lead with a free throw and the quarter would end with an 11-10 Sidney advantage.
Klayton Nordeen would grab the lead for Alliance after his layup to start the second quarter. After Sidney would drill a three-pointer to take the lead at 15-14, the Bulldogs would answer with a nice backdoor pass from Randall to Gomez. Alliance would score two more buckets to jump out to a 20-15 lead. Sidney would cut the Alliance lead to one after back-to-back buckets with just over one minute remaining in the second half. Gomez would convert two free throws for the Bulldogs as time ran down, and Alliance would take a 22-19 headed into halftime.
Great defense by the Bulldogs would force Red Raider turnover to begin the third quarter. A free throw by Tucker Hill would garner the first points of the half for Alliance and grant them a four-point lead. The rest of the third quarter was dominated by both defenses. Both teams were able to force turnovers, but neither team was able to capitalize. Sidney would hit a three-pointer at the end of the third quarter to take a 26-24 lead.
The first possession of the fourth quarter would be a turnover forced by Alliance. That same possession, Gomez would score off a jump-hook in the lane to square the game. Two offensive possessions later, Nordeen would give the Bulldogs the lead with a reverse layup.
Sidney’s Cutter O’Connell would score seven straight points for Sidney, and the Red Raiders would take a five-point lead with just over four minutes to play. A fastbreak layup by Randall would cut Sidney’s lead to three.
Doing what they needed to do, Sidney would score two buckets with under two minutes remaining to take a seven-point lead. After Randall made a bucket to cut the lead to five, an intentional foul was called on Alliance, and Sidney would gain two more free throws to bring the lead back up to seven. Sidney would finish the game from there, ultimately defeating the Bulldogs 42-32.
“It was a hard-fought game,” said Bulldog Coach Ryan Waters after the tough defeat. “We played well defensively all game, they were just able to make shots towards the end to win it.” Coach Waters noted that the team “contained Sidney’s best players very well.” “They weren’t able to hit shots in the first half, and they were doing exactly what we wanted them to.”
Randall led the Bulldogs with 12 points, Gomez contributed with 10, Henderson would add with 5, Nordeen would score 4, and Tucker Hill would score 1. Sidney’s O’Connell led all scorers with 23.
With the loss the Freshmen Bulldogs end their season at 6-9. Sidney will play in the Championship game on Thursday at the AMS Gym.
Individual Scoring
Cole Randall 12
Michael Gomez 10
Cody Henderson 5
Klayton Nordeen 4
Tucker Hill 1
