PIQUA — Sidney pulled away from Piqua in the third quarter of a Miami Valley League crossover game on Friday on its way to a 14-point win and was hoping it was doing the same three days later when the squads met at Garbry Gymnasium.
The Indians put up more of a fight in the fourth quarter on Monday, but Sidney held on to beat its archrival 54-51 and win its fifth consecutive game.
Sidney (11-2, 9-2 MVL Valley Division) led by 12 points entering the fourth quarter on Friday and cruised to a 58-44 win on its home court.
The Yellow Jackets led by 11 entering the fourth quarter on Monday, but Piqua started the final quarter on an 11-3 run to pull within three points.
Aside from it being Sidney’s second game in four days, it was the squad’s fourth in a week’s time.
“We expected it. It’s tough, we’ve never done a Friday-Monday deal (against the same team) before,” Sidney coach John Willoughby said. “We knew it was going to be tougher for us being and Piqua and having just played them. They’re a solid team. Their defense is tough, and they’re big enough to give you trouble.
“… We both match up with each other pretty well. We had some troubles and made some mistakes. But we held on, and that’s the important thing.”
Sidney led by double digits throughout most of the game, but the Indians made a comeback try late.
Sidney led 47-36 heading into the fourth, but Piqua junior guard Bryson Roberts made a basket and three foul shots to cut the gap to 47-41.
The squads traded points to a 50-44 score. Piqua grabbed an offensive rebound after a missed foul shot, worked the ball to Roberts on the left wing, and Roberts hit a 3 with 1:10 left to cut the gap to 50-47.
“With us playing so few kids (seven on Monday), you’re going to get some lulls,” Willoughby said. “Hopefully we sub right to get kids breaks when they need it, and we get Mitchell (Davis) and Jack (Davidson) in there (off the bench). They do a good job for us when we need subs.
Both squads had turnovers and missed opportunities in the next 50 seconds, but Myles Vordemark and Jaden Swiger each hit one-of-two foul shot attempts in that time to push the lead to five points
Sidney then sealed the win when junior forward Sam Reynolds intercepted a pass, raced down the court and made a layup with about 18 seconds left to push the lead to 54-47.
“Sometimes there late, we were holding the ball a little too long and we had some turnovers,” Willoughby said. “It’s tough getting trapped. You’ve got to be smart players, you’ve got to make sure your teammates are helping you out in the right spots.
“For the most part, we’ve been pretty good at that stuff this year. I’m (attributing it to) being a Monday game and the fourth in a week.”
Roberts made two baskets before the end of the game, including a buzzer beater, to cut the final gap to three.
Reynolds, a junior forward who ranks among the MVL’s leading scorers and rebounders, led the squad with another tremendous performance. He scored 19 points and had nine rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Jaden Swiger scored 16 points and had four rebounds and three assists. Vordemark finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Sidney’s busy stretch is set to continue over the next week. The squad hosted Northmont for a nonconference game on Tuesday night and is scheduled to travel to Stebbins on Friday and Vandalia-Butler next Tuesday for league games.
“Northmont is impressive. They’ve got everything,” Willoughby said.
Sidney built a 17-4 lead through the first six minutes of the first quarter, but the Indians finished with an 7-2 run to pull within 19-11 heading into the second.
Piqua cut the gap down to five late in the second after scoring five consecutive points. But Sidney scored the next five to push the gap back to 10. After Bryson Roberts hit a 3 for Piqua, Myles Vordemark made a jumper just before the buzzer to push Sidney’s halftime lead to 35-26.
Piqua again pulled within five in the third quarter, but Sidney responded with a 5-0 run to push the gap to double digits.
The Yellow Jackets maintained a double-digit lead until the final minutes. The Indians went on a 6-3 run to pull within 50-47 with 1:10 left, but they came no closer.
Roberts led Piqua with 15 points. Dre’Sean Roberts scored nine and Quintyn Yaqub scored eight.
Sidney shot 20 for 40 (50 percent) from the floor and had a 30-22 rebounding edge.
