The Raider boys’ basketball team moved to 11-4 overall with two big conference road wins this week. First was the trip to South St. Paul where they won 87-66 and then a trip to Mendota Heights to take on St. Thomas where they earned a 71-59 win. The two wins moved them into third place in the Metro East Conference behind Tartan and Mahtomedi. The conference rankings are based off of points where one conference win is a point. Tartan leads with seven, Mahtomedi has six and Hastings five. The Raiders have ten games remaining in the regular season with nine of those against conference teams, so the next month is going to be a huge opportunity for the boys.
At South St. Paul
The boys went into South St. Paul on a mission, and they came away with a huge victory. Hastings kept the Packers at bay most of the game and their 43-39 halftime lead never truly looked like it was in jeopardy the whole night. The second half, Hastings did a great job shutting down and frustrating the South St. Paul shooters with Hastings controlling the half scoring 44 to the Packers 27. The final score, Hastings 87, So. St. Paul 66.
Matthew Foss had a career night scoring 32, Marlowe Strain tallied 14 points and six rebounds, Lukas Foss had 12 points with four rebounds. Kyan Esterby scored nine and Weston Schult added six to round out the top five scorers.
At St. Thomas Academy
Much like the Packers, the Cadets never really seemed to pose a threat to the Raiders in this game despite their efforts to turn the basketball game into a rugby game. The Raiders did a great job maintaining their composure against a plethora of cheap shots from the Cadets. Several no calls by the officials frustrated fans and really became a safety issue. Thankfully it did not affect the outcome of the game, and no Raiders were hurt.
The game started with a bit of back and forth, but Hastings managed to creep away from the Cadets, ultimately ending the first half up 39-26. That lead they built was never in jeopardy with the Cadets getting as close as eight before Hastings pulled away again and again.
The Raiders like to use a fast-paced transition to put other teams into odd man rushes and catch them in off balance spots, and it is working. The fast pace and swarming defense kept the Cadets shooters frustrated all night long giving Hastings the win 71-59.
Matthew Foss led the team again in scoring, this time with 25 points. Strain added 10, Lukas Foss seven, Schult and Esterby each had six.
As was noted in the first part of the story, the boys have 10 games left in the regular season with nine of them being against conference foes. This team is one to watch and the next month plus could be a wild, fun ride.
Up next
Hastings will travel to Two Rivers on Jan. 31 then they have a three-game home stand. Hill-Murray on Feb. 4, Simley on Feb. 6 and Hudson, the lone non-conference game left, on Feb. 10. All games are slated for 6:30 p.m. tips.