Basketball: Hastings loses to Bears, Rangers

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After beating Park on Tuesday of last week, the Hastings Raiders boys basketball team got above .500 for the first time all season.

Hastings was 7-6 following the big win.

Two games later, Hastings is back under .500.

Hastings lost to White Bear Lake on Friday and Forest Lake on Tuesday to slip to 7-8.

Anyone looking for relief on the schedule will be disappointed. In a three-game stretch that began Tuesday, Hastings will see the Suburban East Conference’s top teams.

The Rangers are 12-4, and Hastings sees them again in early March; Hastings plays Friday at Stillwater against the No. 5-ranked Ponies; Hastings plays Tuesday against the No. 4-ranked Raiders from Cretin-Derham Hall.

Hastings is 4-4 in league play.

“I told our guys, this is the kind of stretch that will make us stronger as long as we have the right mindset,” Hastings coach Chad Feikema said. “We can’t let ourselves get discouraged if things don’t go well. These games will better prepare us for sections. Playing these teams will make us better, as long as we have the right mindset.

“We’ll go into these games hoping we can steal one. We obviously know we are underdogs, but at the same time we believe we can compete with these teams.”

Vs WBL

Hastings lost to White Bear Lake on Thursday, Jan. 21, 65-54.

Hastings trailed 30-26 at halftime.

“It was a pretty tight game in the first half,” Feikema said. “It went back and forth for most of the first half.”

In the second half, the Bears outscored Hastings 35-28.

“We kind of ran into a stretch where we didn’t move the ball real well on the offensive end,” Feikema said. “In some of the games prior, we had done a real nice job of playing together, reversing the basketball and getting assists. We were scoring by playing together.

“We kind of reverted a little bit, particularly in the second half, to more of a one-on-one style. That led to some scoring droughts.”

White Bear pushed its lead to 10, but with 2.5 minutes to play, Hastings trailed by just five at 50-45.

“We had done a really nice job of cranking up our defensive intensity,” Feikema said. “We had created some turnovers and forced some bad shots.”

Down the stretch, though, White Bear Lake hit a number of layups as Hastings was gambling to make steals. The Bears also hit their free throws.

Defensively, Hastings had some breakdowns, Feikema said. In the first half, not closing out shooters, or getting there a half-step late, aided the Bears as they hit four three-pointers. There were some problems in the second half, too, Feikema said.

“We lost track of some of our defensive principles,” he said. “(White Bear Lake was) able to drive into the lane and, instead of stopping the ball, we tried to block the shot and got called for the foul. Just little short lapses like that hurt us.”

Hastings was led in scoring by Shane Monjeau, who had 18. Also scoring were: Dan Guelle 3; Tony Hammes 7; Mike Hill 10; Ellis Williams 3; Nick Gmiterko 5; Darius Wilkerson 8.

Vs Forest Lake

Hastings lost to Forest Lake Tuesday, 98-73.

Monjeau finished with 30 points to lead the Raiders. Also scoring were Guelle, 8; Hammes, 7; Hill, 4; Williams, 3; Gmiterko, 16; Wilkerson, 5.

Tags: sports, hastings, basketball, prep