Girls basketball season ends

The season is over for the Hastings girls basketball team. On Wednesday, Hastings lost to Lakeville North, 68-35, in the first round of the section tournament.

North, seeded No. 1 in the tournament, outscored Hastings 38-17 in the first half and 30-18 in the second half. Hastings was the No. 8 seeded team.

The Raiders finished their season with a 2-25 record.

“It was one of those deals – people look at that record and say, ‘You must not have had a very good season,’” coach Mike Harp said. “I couldn’t disagree more. Obviously, we would have liked to have won a few more basketball games, but the girls went out there and worked hard. They tried. They supported each other. That’s all you can ask for. We had great kids. It was a great team.

“We don’t measure success with wins and losses. We measure it with what type of experience these kids are having. These kids will all walk away from the season with good memories.”

Hastings was led in scoring by freshman Hanna Norman, who had 10 points. Lauren Thomas had six, Jill Weinzettel had six, Morgan Tjomsland had four, Ashley Bayne had three, Lexie Harp had two, Nicole Hollar had two and Jordan Marshall had two.

Three freshmen were starting this season for Hastings, and Harp is optimistic about what that holds for the future. In addition to those three, a number of fellow underclassmen also saw considerable playing time.

“If they come in during the summer and work hard, the future looks really bright,” Harp said. “They gained a lot of valuable varsity experience this year.”

There are three seniors on the team who played in their last game for Hastings. They are Kelsey Nelson, Marshall and Harp.

“These three seniors are just incredible kids,” Harp said. “I couldn’t be prouder of these seniors.”

Harp (the coach’s daughter) and Marshall were captains this season.

“You couldn’t ask for better captains,” Harp said.

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