When easy shots began falling, cagers rolled to lopsided victory

• Seth Stanchik saves a ball from going out of bounds

Seth Stanchik saves a ball that was going out of bounds. He had 21 points in a 63-49 win over New Richmond. Photo by Joe Winter

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• Raider boys thump Menomonie in Big Rivers opener

The Raider boys basketball team overcame some early jitters and rolled in their season opener to an easy 63-49 win over New Richmond.

“Once we got our defense going, we did well,” Coach Jason Swavely said. “In the initial four minutes we were stagnant. But then we got the defense going full court, and under duress they weren’t as good.”

That presented offensive opportunities, but Hudson missed nine layups in the first half, although some of them were contested.

“We shook the rust off, settled into our game a little bit and kinda rode it out,” Swavely said. Hudson led 14-13 at the end of the first quarter and 33-24 at halftime.

In the second quarter, the Raiders became disciplined about getting the ball inside to Seth Stanchik, who finished with 21 points, for high percentage shots. New Richmond double and tripled teamed him, but did not deny the entry pass and Stanchik was able to simply power his way to close-in shots. He also fed the ball to cutters and used skip passes back out. “He can be the conduit,” Swavely said. “He doesn’t always have to score.”

Swavely said he’d rather see drives to the basket than too many three-pointers, of which Hudson only hit 25 percent for the game. “We’d like to be in the middle 30s,” he said.

Nate Roeder chipped in 15 points for the Raiders and Ben Gresmer 13. Mark Van Den Broeke added six, all in the second half.

On Tuesday, Hudson was scheduled to face a Menomonie squad that lost the majority of players to graduation and is projected to finish in the bottom half of the Big Rivers Conference. However, their gymnasium is a tough venue and the Raiders cannot take them for granted, Swavely said. (Note: The final score of that game, which ended after press time, was 75-35 in favor of Hudson.)

On Friday, Hudson’s biggest rival comes to town for a 7 p.m. game. River Falls is projected to battle for the top spot in the conference, with its balanced attack, good defense and inside game with tall post players and favorable guard matchups, Swavely said. They also are good at working the offensive glass.

Another home contest follows on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 7:00 p.m., when the team faces Centennial.

Tags: sports, hudson, basketball, boys, raiders