The Hastings Raiders Girls Basketball team started their season Friday against a very tough Burnsville squad. The 7:00 p.m. tip on a chilly, snowy and blustery Friday night was in front of a large and energetic crowd ready to see the hoopsters hit the floor.

The first half of the game, Hastings jumped out to an early lead that quickly changed to the Blaze. Sophomore Keagan McVicker kept the Raiders on task, directing the floor and Sophomore Haley Strain kept the Blaze busy in the paint. Natalie Caflisch, Rachel Notch, Lindsey Wagner and Emma Bakker all logged extended minutes on the floor. Hastings had the early 63 lead until Burnsville fought back to eventually take their first lead 10-8 with 14:40 left in the first half. The transition game for both teams was sloppy to start, the combination of early season jitters and both sides trying to create space and points.

The transitional woes continued for a few minutes, especially for Hastings, which allowed Burnsville to increase their lead despite the chances the Blaze were giving the Raiders at the charity stripe. Burnsville had five team fouls to the Raiders one with just six minutes played in the game. But Burnsville also had the lead 20-10. With just under nine minutes left in the first half, Hasting began to chip away at the Blaze’s double-digit lead. The comeback was sparked by a huge steal and subsequent layup by McVicker.

The Raider defense sprung to life grabbing defensive rebounds and moving the ball down the court patiently. Hastings narrowed the gap to 25-21 before Burnsville scored again. A key offensive play put McVicker under the basket for two plus a foul and the three-point play was good cutting the lead to three. A few baskets were exchanged and at the 4:15 mark, a huge three point shot from Strain tied the game at 29. A foul on the subsequent play sent Strain to the free throw line who hit the first shot but missed the second which turned out to be a fortuitous miss as Bakker grabbed the rebound and tossed it to Caflisch who put it back for two. That gave Hastings a 32-29 lead with 3:40 remaining. Burnsville started to implode with a travel and a couple missed shots and the Raiders jumped out to a five-point lead with less than three minutes remaining in the half.

Caflisch took a pass in the paint and the initial shot bounced out right back into her hands for the quick put back to put the Raiders up 36-30. Burnsville worked to stymie the Raider offense with repeated shots from behind the three-point arch, but those shots that were falling earlier for them, failed to drop later in the half clearly frustrating the Blaze. Hastings took a 38-34 lead into the locker room at the Half.

During the intermission, Athletic Director Trent Hanson presented the newest eight members to the Raiders Athletic Wall of Honor. For the story of these eight amazing individuals that have had decades of impact on thousands of Raider athletes, please turn to the front page.

“We were playing well, like it's our game to win or lose,” Head Coach Sheri McLeod told the Raiders at the intermission. “This year we're changing our mindset. This year, if you give 100 percent out here on the floor of everything you got, we will win. So, at halftime, I told them we outhustled them, we outworked them, we were patient. We stayed home, we stayed positive, which is how we got the lead back.”

The second half kicked off with a shooting foul on Hastings, which cut the Raider lead in half. After a few quick transitional plays, Caflisch drained a three to give the Raiders a 45-41 lead. Burnsville tied the game at 45 but Hastings took the lead right back. Four straight turnovers in transition lead to a foul on the Blaze that sent Caflisch to the line. The game continued back and forth with Burnsville tying things up at 52 with around nine minutes left to play. The score remained knotted at 52 until Wagner drained a three from near the Raider bench. With just over six minutes to go, both teams entered foul trouble, and both were in the bonus. The pace of the game slowed severely with every foul sending a shooter to the line, making the last six minutes of play seem like eternity.

McVicker drained a three to give the Raiders a 60-55 lead with six minutes to go. At 4:44, McVicker should have had her fifth foul, but the official called the foul on Strain. With 2:50 left, McVicker was called for a questionable fifth and her night was over. Hastings had a 63-59 lead with 2:29 remaining. A series of fouls by Burnsville gave Hastings four free attempts. but they were only able to convert one. Burnsville scored two with just over a minute to go to make the score 64-63, Hastings. This is where nerves hit an all-time high for both teams’ fans, but the Raiders did not panic, they held their ground.

McLeod explained her plan for the final 20 seconds of the game.

“We were going to guard number five because she is their shooter. We wanted to make sure that she didn't catch the ball, just guard them. So, once we got the rebound back, and then they called the timeout, then I was like, Okay, well, now they put other shooters in. So, none of their shooters were touching the ball, we better box out and just be strong with the ball.”

The Raiders did exactly what they needed to and as time expired, the fieldhouse erupted with cheers. Hastings just earned their first win of the season in a gritty way. The most fun part about the home Raider win was Coach McLeod introduced a little dance session for the girls and fans after a win to let the kids be kids. They have a great time and it’s a fun, team building minute or two after they shake hands with their opponent.

Hastings had three players with double digit scoring, McVicker went 10-for-17 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the line with 26 points including two assists. Strain was 3-for-7 from the floor and 8-of-17 from the line scoring 15 with three assists and Bakker was 5-for-10 from the floor and 1-for-2 from the line, scoring 12 with four assists.

Hastings will host Visitation on Dec. 8 then start a month-long series of road trips that begins with travel to Ellsworth on Dec. 13, then to Kasson-Mantorville on Dec. 16. All three games are scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. tip, but that changes depending on the Junior Varsity game that takes place prior to the Varsity game. The fourth home game of the season for the Raider Ladies will be Jan. 6 against Tartan at 7 p.m.

Natalie Caflisch had a solid night on the hardwood for Hastings, earning the tough points in the paint. Here she was surrounded by three Burnsville players while she scored two of her eight points on the night. Photo by Bruce Karnick