Boys basketball team still unbeaten in BRC, as Old Abes get buried late

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Eau Claire Memorial hung around for a while, but the Raider boys basketball team buried them with a 26-point third quarter on their way to a 78-59 win to stay unbeaten in the BRC.

“In the first half, it was back and forth,” Coach Jason Swavely said, noting his squad was up by seven at the half in the contest played at home. Hudson would go up by eight or 10 points, and then the lead would be whittled to five or six. But then there was that 12-point differential in the third.

“We started playing defense better and got points off it, while shutting down their offensive threats,” Swavely said. “Our defense turned into offensive opportunities, and we converted easy points and were aggressive to the basket.”

Hudson was led by Nate Roeder with 25 points, Seth Stanchik with 22 and Jordan Vitek with 18, including four 3-pointers, as Hudson poured on the offense. Both teams shot 23 free throws, but the Raiders converted at a higher clip.

Swavely said that his team can put a switch on at some junctures and rev it into high gear, leaving opponents in the dust. “At some level that may be OK … as we know we have an extra gear, but it can be living on the edge when you play that way.”

To be more consistent, each day in practice, Hudson tries to better understand each others’ strengths and weaknesses, Swavely said. “With the postseason coming, we have to be sharp in every phase,” he said. “In the second half of our conference schedule, we are going to have a target squarely on our backs.”

To that end, Hudson was slated to play host to Menomonie on Tuesday (a contest which the Raiders won by a score of 69-41), and then travel to River Falls for a Friday contest at 7:30 p.m. They then host Woodbury on Tuesday, Feb. 3 and Rice Lake on Thursday, Feb. 5. Both games are also at 7:30 p.m.

River Falls just came off a good performance over Eau Claire North and is a big rival. When they played the first time, Hudson pulled away in the middle of the fourth quarter, and Hudson has beaten them seven straight times, so the Wildcats will be hungry.

“We will need to be poised and play within ourselves,” Swavely said, adding that River Falls will throw sever different defenses at them.

Tags: sports, hudson, boys, basketball, raiders