Girl cagers shake off press but still fall to Shakopee

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The Raider girls basketball team continued to make progress in the areas they need it most, but still lost to Shakopee 63-38 last Saturday.

“We started out on a great note, going up 5-2. We had four steals in a row during that time and had good looks at the basket,” said Coach Beth Graskewicz. “We had open shots and couldn’t get them to fall. Everything they threw up was going in.”

Hudson handled well the defensive pressure it faced, and continued to make strides in that area, but did have some silly mistakes, akin to unforced errors in tennis, she said. They also missed many shots inside and outside.

“I think we played phenomenal defense at the start,” Graskewicz said. “The effort was there.”

No box score information from the Raider team was provided.

Hudson was slated to face Chippewa falls on Tuesday (Note: The Raiders were defeated in that contest by a score of 51-47), then travel to Eau Claire Memorial on Friday, Jan. 23. Graskewicz noted that the teams they have faced in their non-conference slate have a combined record on 40-11.

“That (strength of opponents) has prepared us well for our Big Rivers Conference schedule. We have taken our licks with our non-conference schedule,” Graskewicz said.

Chippewa’s tallest girl is 5-foot-9, will it will use its quickness to press Hudson, she said. “They’ll come at us fullcourt, and try to prevent us from getting in our halfcourt situation. We have to get shots to fall, so we can open it up and feed the ball into our bigger post players.”

The Old Abes have only one win, but can’t be overlooked, Graskewicz said.

If the Raiders can beat this week’s opponents, then get past River Falls and Menomonie, they can finish the season in the upper half of the Big Rivers, she said. “That is a great goal for us, but we need better shooting.”

Tags: sports, hudson, girls, basketball, raiders