Menomonie ends Raider girls basketball season

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The Hudson girls basketball team’s success against Menomonie ran out in the opening round of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament.

After twice defeating Menomonie in conference play, the Raiders fell 44-36 to the Big Rivers rival in a Feb. 24 regional semifinal at Hudson.

The Menomonie girls came into the game with a chip on their shoulders after finishing the Big Rivers schedule with a better record than the Raiders, but a lower seed in the tournament.

The Raiders, who finished 4-8 in the Big Rivers, were the fourth seed in Section 1. Menomonie went 5-7 in the conference but was seeded fifth because of its two losses to the Raiders.

The visitors took a four-point lead in the first quarter and maintained the advantage through the second quarter.

The Raiders narrowed Menomonie’s lead to 30-28 at the end of the third quarter. The Menomonie girls pulled away for good in the final quarter in which they outscored Hudson 14-8.

The good fortune didn’t last long for the Menomonie girls. Four nights later (Feb. 28), they were defeated by Eau Claire North, 53-31, in the regional final in North’s Doghouse.

The North Huskies and Marshfield are the Division 1 teams favored to contend for the right to represent Section 1 at state tournament in Madison March 12-14.

While the Hudson girls’ season came to a disappointing end, it was better than the previous two seasons in which they finished 1-11 in the Big Rivers.

Junior post player Kaitlyn Haag had the second-highest points-per-game average in the conference at 13.6. Haag scored 231 points on the season.

Tessa Wells of River Falls was the Big Rivers’ leading scorer, averaging 18.1 points per game for a total of 343 on the season.

Tags: sports, hudson, girls, basketball, raiders