Sidesky powers Vikings over Panthers

New Berlin - New Berlin West senior Dan Sidesky was handed a tough assignment: Be the team's leader after the Vikings graduated eight seniors.

After back-to-back losses to open the conference season, Sidesky rose to the occasion to deliver a crushing four-point play midway through the third quarter to swing the momentum back to West as the team cruised past Greendale, 58-34, on the road Friday.

"There was no doubt that was the biggest play in the game," said Greendale coach Ryan Fiet. "We totally fell apart after that play."

After two quick baskets by Panthers' seniors Jacob Sisler and Shawn Markham cut the deficit to eight at 26-18 to open the second half, the Panthers lost sight of Sidesky and he made them pay. Vikings senior Dino Poulos drove into the lane and dished it out to a wide-open Sidesky who made the 3-pointer and was fouled as Markham ran to contest the shot.

"Dan is a guy we rely on heavily in certain situations," said Vikings coach Jeff Lewiston. "He is the floor leader out there. We graduated eight of our top nine guys from last year so he's the only one out there that has played big minutes."

Sidesky helped fuel a Vikings (2-2, 1-2 in Woodland Blue) offensive outburst in the third quarter. The 6-foot-4 forward had eight of his game-high 22 points in the third quarter. After his four-point play, the Vikings broke the game open with a 19-4 run to close the third quarter in large part to a suffocating non-stop, full-court defense.

"From day one we worked on our press defense," said Sidesky. "We did not bring it out really in our first few games but when we watched the tape on Greendale we felt we could really pressure them."

Greendale (2-3, 2-1 Woodland Black) committed six turnovers in the third quarter before crossing midcourt leading to 10 quick points for West, which pushed its lead to 22 points at 42-20.

"Our problem was we came down the court every time trying to tie the game up on one possession," said Fiet. "We really rushed some shots and were not in a good position to get any kind of a rebound.

As for their press, that's just us being undisciplined. We ran through press break all week."

Since the season started, both Sidesky and coach Lewiston have waited for senior Jordan McKeon to have a breakout game and Friday he did. The 5-10 shooting guard erupted in the third quarter for 11 points despite his first shot being an air ball. McKeon went on to drain three consecutive 3-pointers and later added a layup.

"Jordan is a senior who didn't play much last season but has some real talent shooting the ball," said Lewiston. "We have been waiting all season for him to step up and have a game like this. Hopefully, this helps him a lot."

Sidesky echoed the same thing but with a bigger smile.

"I text him all the time before the games and tell him he's the best shooter on the team," he said. "I tell him good things are going to happen if he shoots. We really needed that. You can tell by us scoring 58 points tonight that I wasn't the only one scoring,"

Greendale had won its last two games after dropping its first two of the season.

"Not being able to carry over a game for 32 minutes after a few victories is disappointing," said Fiet. "In terms of playing a disciplined team; that was the most disciplined team we have played all season."

St. Thomas More

The Vikings battled the Blue Division-leading Cavaliers (3-1, 3-0) deep into the fourth period before dropping a 71-57 decision on Dec. 6 to open the week.

The score was tied at 24-24 at halftime and West trailed only 39-35 going into the final quarter.

Sidesky was the only Vikings in double figures, as he finished with 20 points. Darin Sowinski and Jake Rink had eight and seven points, respectively.

Tyrone Lewis led the way for More with 17 points, while Daymeann Stewart and Trevor Wattawa had 13 and 12 points, respectively.