By Bruce Karnick

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The Raider girls basketball team had the prime opportunity to take sole possession of the Metro East Conference number one spot on Jan. 19 with Mahtomedi coming to town. The Zephyrs came out with a high-pressure plan to keep the Raiders off balance, and they came out on top of a 91-56 final score.

By the time halftime hit, Mahtomedi had a 17-point lead.

Head Coach Sherie Mc-Leod explained some of the frustration of the first half.

“We started playing individualistic basketball, like ‘Well, okay, I’m going to start taking it over because the pass is not working or so-n-so’s not catching it.’ We’re still in transition where we have got to trust our teammates because if you don’t trust your teammates whether she catches the ball or not whether you trust your teammates or not you have to pass them the ball,” she said.

Hastings fought hard but it just was not the Raiders’ night. The story of the night ended up being turnovers. Hastings committed 35 turnovers when they have been averaging 19 per game.

Coach McLeod is working hard to build a great program from the bottom up. That is why they invite the young girls to the games to play at the half. It gets them, and their parents involved and makes them feel like part of the program.

“The other thing that I’m trying to change is the mentality of selfishness. We have to play selfless basketball. Literally, we were 3-0, they were 3-0, somebody had to lose Right? We are a good, seven, maybe eight deep where everyone can play. We’ve just got to trust the eight that are out there can play the game. We can’t worry about who’s playing, who’s not playing, how come I didn’t get in? I’m trying to put the best five on the floor,” added McLeod.

It’s clear her focus is on building a great team, a winning team and she has clear expectations of her players. Friday, they turned things around in a big way against Two Rivers, defeating them 73-57. Lilly Nuytten led the scoresheet with 28, Keagan McVicker followed that up with 20 and Emma Bakker had 13 to get the three in double figures.

Hastings will host Simley on Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. and then travel to Rochester John Marshall on Jan. 29 for a 3 p.m. tip. Hastings makes the trip to Rosemount February 2 at 7 p.m. and Tartan comes to town on Feb. 4, also at 7 p.m.

Senior Lilly Nuytten leads the Raiders in scoring this season and is quickly approaching 1,000 points in her Raider career, a milestone that hopefully is reached at home against Simley. Photo by Bruce Karnick