By Mike Schlottman

The Hastings Raiders Girls Basketball team were able to edge out the Tartan Titans in conference play Tuesday evening with an exciting 41-35 finish. The Raiders maintained the lead the entire game, but Tartan kept hanging around, allowing for a close finish down the stretch. In the end, Tartan was forced to foul, and it was eighth grader Keagan McVicker sinking four consecutive free throws that sealed the victory for the Raiders.

The Raiders were able to display some excellent ball movement at times when running their offensive sets, finding that open shot and taking advantage of great floor spacing. At other times, they were aggressive to the hoop, drawing fouls to put them at the line. Defensively, the Raiders were steady, playing a tough man to man, only allowing Tartan senior Makayla Harris to reach double figures in scoring with 16. The rest of the Titans struggled to get good shots.

Junior forward Lilly Nuytten led all scorers with 20 points, including an impressive eight for eight at the free throw line to help propel the Raiders to a win. McVicker added eight points, Freshman Emma Bakker had six and senior Shea Levos dropped in five points.

Hastings improves to 4-3 overall and 4-3 in the Metro East conference putting them at fourth place in a very tough conference. Hill Murray and Mahtomedi are ranked first and second respectively in the conference as well as in AAA according to www. minnesota-scores.net which ranks teams based on an overall QRF ranking. Hastings currently sits at 27th place in AAAA and fourth in their section. This is all very good for a Raiders team that graduated their all-time leading scorer and rebounder, Malory Brake, who is now playing Division I basketball for Creighton University.

Nuytten has stepped into that void rather nicely for the Raiders averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds per game. She’s a tall 6’ 1” lefty that is aggressive to the basket and a beast on the boards. She’s also a humble leader that’s not afraid of a challenge and a true teammate who usually has a big smile on her face (when it’s not covered up with a mask) and eager to pick up her teammates when things aren’t going well.

Nuytten had this to say about how the season is going so far, “as a team, everyday has been new for us. Starting with the Simley game, as a team we worked so hard to pull out a win. We had girls step up, knock down shots, and played awesome defense. We won that game because we played as a team.” She went on to say, “We haven’t had many downs this season, but it will always happen whether you want it to or not. After a loss we will come to practice with an open mind knowing that there is work needed to have success against our next opponent.”

Another big surprise this year has been the steady play of McVicker who came right to the varsity level after playing middle school basketball last year. She’s been one of the first to come off the bench as a backup guard to seniors Avery Daley and Levos and the Raiders don’t skip a beat with her out there. She displays with a confidence and swagger rarely seen from an eighth grader, especially one who’s playing her first year of varsity. McVicker is averaging seven points and three rebounds per game. Almost more impressive, though, has been her defensive contributions averaging nearly two steals per game, usually coming from her intercepting a pass and taking it to the hoop.

“Personally, I think my steals come from the amazing ball pressure that my teammates put on which makes it so much easier to get into the passing lanes,” said McVicker. She goes on to say, “everyone around me in practice works hard, has an open mind, and most of all, picks others up. Our team really thrives off of energy and positivity so I’m glad that we have girls to provide that.”

With a solid group of upperclassmen and some very talented underclassmen already contributing, this Raider team is poised to make a run this year and should be an exciting team to watch for many years to come.

The Raiders have a great leader in #12 junior Lilly Nuytten both on and off the floor, and excellent bench support from the youngest member of the team, eighth grader, #22, Keagen McVicker. Both Nuytten and McVicker had strong nights at the free throw line, going a combined 12 of 14. Photos by Bruce Karnick