The Scottsbluff boys and Chadron girls took the titles Saturday night in the Western Conference Invitational Tournament. Chadron girls claimed its second straight  championship 54-45 over Sidney while Scottsbluff grabbed its third straight WCIT crown 65-52 over Omaha Skutt Catholic.

Chadron trailed Sidney 14-10 after the opening quarter, but took a 25-20 lead into the half and led throughout the second half. The Raiders cut the margin to 2 points several times…the last 39-37 late in the third…but couldn’t get closer than 4 in the final period.

Chadron…#2 in Class C-1 in the Omaha World-Herald preseason poll…was led by 28 points from Ashlea Kerr, while Peyton Hinn chipped in with 13. Sidney was led in scoring by Karissa Segelke with 13 points and Kylee Price with 11.

A huge offensive game by Michael Hadden and a strong defensive effort were the keys to Scottsbluff’s win over Skutt.

Hadden had a game-high 39 points…including 21 of 26 from the foul line, where Scottsbluff was 24-36 while Skutt attempted just one free throw in the final 3 periods.

Skutt led 13-12 after one quarter, but an 11-0 run midway through the second period put the Bearcats up 23-17 and they stayed on top for good. Scottsbluff…ranked #1 in Class B by the Omaha World-Herald…never let Skutt get closer than 3 after

Scottsbluff Coach Tony Siske called it a very big win and confidence boost for the defending state champions who lost heavily to graduation.