Girl cagers build lead slowly, beat Rice Lake

• Katie Ecker is fouled going to the basket

Katie Ecker is fouled going to the basket against Rice Lake. Photo by Joe Winter

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The Raider girls basketball team beat Rice Lake 44-41 in their third Big Rivers Conference game, but lost to Red Wing in a laugher 78-34.

Rice Lake had greater quickness than Hudson, especially at the guard position, and that caused them to bring pressure. Hudson had more luck than usual at times in breaking it, and this led to spurts where they had good composure and built leads of 10 to 12 points. They then felt more comfortable and less off kilter in their offense, Coach Beth Graskewicz said.

Meanwhile, Hudson changed up their defensive looks so Rice Lake would not get comfortable in their attack. The Raiders led 31-30 at half, then slowly built that lead through the second half.

Graskewicz added that Hudson is playing quality teams such as Red Wing and Shakopee, with their stellar records, to prepare them better for tough Big Rivers Conference teams.

Graskewicz described the Red Wing game as “ugly.” Her charges got behind, especially during a long stretch of points given up to start the second half, because they were pressed and lost their composure. She described Red Wing as a very good team that has lost only one game all season.

It didn’t help that center Kait Haag had been out of action with shin splints, although she came back to score 14 against Rice Lake. (Hudson also had nine from Sofi Iverson, six each from Katie Ecker and Jamie Lindstrom, four from Morgan Zabel, three from Jesse Kirkwood and a basket from Maya Triebold in the conference game).

Red Wing had a very tall team all around, with guards going 5-foot-10. They did play a defensive style that let Hudson pass in the ball uncontested for much of the game. The Raiders got eight points from Zabel and Lindstrom, two three-pointers from Kirkwood, four from Molly Krohn, three free throws apiece from Iverson and Maddie Drewiske, and two from Ecker.

On the Monday and Tuesday (Dec. 22 & 23) of the holiday break, Hudson will play in the Woodbury tournament, starting with the hosts in a 6 p.m. game. Depending on whether they win, Hudson faces another squad on Tuesday. The other teams are Prior Lake and South St. Paul.

Tags: sports, hudson, raiders, girls, basketball