CHADRON – The Sidney Lady Raiders and Red Raiders opened the season with a pair of road wins on Friday. In lieu of the traditional Western Conference Tournament, which has been moved to late January, Sidney traveled to Chadron to face the Cardinals.

Chadron is always a difficult matchup for the Lady Raiders and opening the season on the Cardinals home floor didn’t make it any easier. Sidney’s biggest lead was five points in the second quarter while the Lady Cardinals largest advantage of six points came in the third and fourth quarters. A Payton Schrotberger field goal with 24 seconds remaining gave Sidney a 44-43 lead, but the Cardinals missed three shots in the paint to end the game and the Lady Raiders survived.

Jordan Denovellis, Carli Black, and Kayla Westby all finished with eight points. Payton Schrotberger added seven points, all coming in the fourth quarter.

The Red Raiders had it a little easier against the Cardinals. Sidney bolted to a 19-7 first quarter lead and never looked back. Except for a Chadron run that cut the Sidney lead down to six points early in the fourth quarter, the Red Raiders maintained a double-digit advantage most of the game. A trio of three-pointers by Isak Doty spurred a 24-8 final period as Sidney picked up their first win of the season 58-35.

Isak Doty knocked down six shots from behind the arc to finish with 20 points. Landon Riddle chipped in 11 while Reid Fiscus added 10 for the Red Raiders.