Raider boys demolish Abes, are No. 1 seed in tourney

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The Hudson boys closed out their Big Rivers Conference basketball schedule with a bang.

The Raiders defeated Eau Claire Memorial 80-53 Friday night on the Old Abes’ home court.

The lopsided victory showed why Hudson was named a No. 1 seed in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament that got underway Tuesday night.

The Hudson boys earned a bye in the regional semifinals. They will host Eau Claire North in the regional final set for 1 p.m. Saturday, March 7 in the Hudson High School gym.

Chippewa Falls handed the Raiders one of their two losses in conference play this season. The Cardinals defeated the Raiders 55-52 in a Friday-the-13th game at Hudson in February.

The Raiders’ only other Big Rivers loss was to River Falls. The Wildcats defeated them 50-45 in a Jan. 30 contest at River Falls.

Hudson won the Big Rivers title with a 10-2 record. Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire North tied for second at 8-4, and River Falls finished fourth at 7-5.

Last Friday, the Raiders led 37-27 at halftime and put the Old Abes away by outscoring them 24-11 in the third quarter. Hudson led by as many as 33 points late in the game.

Raider center Seth Stanchik scored 30 points in the winning effort. Senior guard Nate Roeder added 15 points, and Mark VanDenBroeke, 11 points.

“This was our best game of the year,” Stanchik told the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram.

The Abes sent Stanchik to the free-throw line repeatedly in their effort to stop him on offense. He responded by sinking 14 of 16 charity tosses.

Memorial’s coach, Greg Van Grunsven, told the Eau Claire newspaper after the game that he’s seen enough of Stanchik.

“It seems like I’ve been coaching against him for 10 years,” Van Grunsven was quoted as saying. “He is a terrific, terrific high school basketball player. He’s a difficult matchup for any team.”

Stanchik has been on the varsity squad all four of his years at Hudson High. He’s been a starter since his sophomore year.

Hudson coach Jason Swavely said the Raiders were sharp in every phase of the game against the Old Abes.

They converted a remarkable 27 of 31 free throw attempts (87 percent) and made 24 of 50 shots from the floor (48 percent).

Tags: sports, hudson, boys, basketball, raiders