Hastings boys basketball begins postseason play tonight on the road against Apple Valley. The Raiders earned the #6 seed in the section, and match up well with the #3 seeded Eagles. The Raiders are scoring over 62 points per contest compared to the Eagles 61, both teams shoot just over 42% from the field, in the mid 60s from the free throw line, and the Eagles have a slight advantage from beyond the arc at 35% compared to the Raiders 30%.
One area where Hastings may have an advantage is one second chance points, the Raiders have accumulated 250 offensive boards during the season compared to just 188 for Apple Valley, and will have to work hard to keep Apple Valley off the defensive rebounding glass with both teams averaging 27 rebounds per contest, and the Raiders will have to limit turnovers against the Eagles, with Hastings averaging over 13 per contest.
Individually, the Eagles will have a two-pronged attack on offense with standouts Trey Parker and Camare Young scoring a combined 40 points per game with Parker shooting well from both outside the arc and at the free throw line, and post player Ryan Christiansen will also be a factor as he averaged over 11 rebounds a game.
The Raiders will have to use their three double-digit scorers to power their offense, with leading scorer Matthew Foss likely drawing the Eagles best defender, leaving opportunities for second leading scorer Brady Hendrickson and post player Landon Miska. Hastings head coach Chad Feikema said the team is healthy now compared to earlier in the season when multiple rotation players were banged up, and are looking to be at their best tonight to keep their season going.
You can hear the Raiders boys basketball postseason contest at Apple Valley High School on AM 1460 and FM 97.7 KDWA with myself Andrew Swadner on the call. Pregame coverage begins at 6;45pm, with tip-off at 7pm.