Each year, the Raiders basketball teams host a holiday tournament on the Friday and Saturday following Christmas. There are dozens of games between all levels of high school teams, C-Squad, B-Squad, JV and Varsity. Typically, each level has four teams competing guaranteeing two games per team for a total of 24 basketball games in two days.
For the varsity games, the boys defeated Bloomington Kennedy 82-58 in the first round then won the championship 80-73 over Bloomington Jefferson. The girls won round one 50-33 over park but fell in the championship 73-51 to Farmington.
Boys Tournament
The boys’ varsity bracket had Bloomington Jefferson versus Forest Lake for the first game and Hastings versus Bloomington Kennedy for the second game.
Jefferson thumped Forest Lake 92-64 despite the closeness of the first half where there was a lot of back-and-forth basketball played resulting in only a three-point lead for the Jaguars 40-37. The second half Jefferson ran away from the Tigers quickly, finishing with 52 second half points to Forest Lake’s 27.
Hastings took the court for the 7:00 p.m. tip on Friday against the Bloomington Kennedy Eagles. The Eagles looked to have a little bit of a height advantage, but the Raider boys out bodied and out muscled the Eagles to keep them grounded and behind most of the game. Hastings crept out to a double-digit lead for most of the first half. When Kennedy would claw their way to trail by eight or nine, the Raiders would turn around a rocket their way back to a 13- or 14-point lead, never really putting the game into jeopardy.
The Raider defense was a large part of that. Between Lukas Foss blocking shots, Weston Schult having his hands in the right spot to create turn overs and the rest of the Raiders creating odd man rushes and quick transitions, the boys knocked the Eagles out of the sky. Hastings took a 45-25 lead into the intermission and came out firing in the second half to increase their lead. This allowed Head Coach Chad Feikema to get his bench players some active varsity time. After it was all said and done, Hastings won 82-58 with 12 Raiders making the scoresheet.
Scoring for the Raiders; Matthew Foss led the night with 28 points, Marlowe Strain had 16, Kyan Esterby-7, Brady Hendrickson and Jacob Reuter-5, Lukas Foss-4, Liam Bernatz, Caleb Gudissa and Ashton Arnes-3, Thomas Peterson, Weston Schult, Landon Miska and Kolton McGrath-2.
Day two saw Forest Lake top Bloomington Kennedy 68-58 in the consolation game before the Raiders took on Bloomington Jefferson.
This game was by far the most contested game of the varsity tournament with a lot of good basketball played. The two teams exchanged leads frequently with Hastings taking the one point advantage into the intermission, 38-37. The play continued well into the second half until Hastings started to creep away ultimately winning 80-73.
Lukas Foss led the Raiders with 18 points, Schult had 13, Strain had 12 and Kyan Esterby 11, Matthew Foss and Brady Hendrickson each had 9.
With the win, the boys claimed the championship to close out the 2024 portion of the season.
Girls Tournament
The ladies started the tournament with a bit of an odd game against Park of Cottage Grove. They ultimately won the game 50-33, but it was far from a clean game. The best way to describe the game is awkward. It had a weird flow to it; even long time Raider statistician Dick Cragg had a hard time describing it.
Park spent a lot of their time running around handing the ball off, almost like they were imitating the Washington Generals, the longtime foes of the Harlem Globetrotters. It was as if the Wolfpack were just waiting for the Raiders to do some flashy Globetrotter like plays after a spectacular steal. The flip side was, Hastings looked as though the game was scripted for them to win minus the flashy dunks of the Globetrotters. It really had an awkward energy even with the Raider win.
Hastings led the game from the get-go and there was never really any threat that the Wolfpack would come back to win. The Raiders took a 28-18 lead to the intermission and finished the game up 50-33.
Haley Strain led the Raiders in scoring with 18, Keagan McVicker had 12, Violet Schult had 10 including the two three pointers scored for the Raiders out of 20 attempts. Rachel Notch, Piper Brockman and Kayleigh Giesen each scored four in the win.
Day two saw New Prague topple Park 66-40 before Hastings played Farmington in the championship game.
The game against Farmington felt more like a regular Raider game. The girls were high energy and taking good shots on both sides of the court, the difference was hoop luck. Hastings was not getting the bounces that Farmington was, and Farmington capitalized when they needed to for the 73-51 win. That is how basketball is at times. Both teams can take the same, clean shots but one can just be a millimeter off and the ball bounces different enough to not fall through the lace.
McVicker led the Raiders with 20 points, Schult had 12, Strain 9, and Jilliam McTague 6.
The tournament loss put Hastings in second place overall for the tournament and 6-3 for the 2024 portion of the season.
Up Next
The girls resume play with a three-game home stand starting on Jan. 3 against Hill-Murray, Jan. 7 against Simley and Jan. 9 against Owatonna. All three games are scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. tip. The Raiders Haley Strain is 16 points away from joining Keagan McVicker in the 1,000-point club. Hopefully she makes that landmark against the Pioneers on Jan. 3. Raider fans need to pack the stands on Friday night to cheer the girls on to victory and hopefully witness Strain join the elite club.
The boys hit the road for three straight games. Jan. 3 at Hill-Murray at 6:30 p.m., Jan. 4 at Rochester John Marshall at 7:30 p.m. and at Simley on Jan. 7 for a 7:00 p.m. tip.