Turning takeaways into points and with four players in double figures, the Bulldogs stifled a second-half run by the Raiders and finished with a 75-58 win in a Section 2A Boys Basketball Tournament semifinals game at Gustavus Adolphus College.

The Bulldogs moved to 27-3 on the season and will play Springfield in the section finals at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Bresnan Arena.

The Bulldogs were led by Gavin Bauer’s 21 points, while Daulton Bauer had 18 points, Gavin Weedman had 15 and Caleb Quast finished with 13.

The Raiders, who finish 23-7, were led by Henry Oscarson and Carson Kettner, who each had 11 points. Henry Kennedy and Abe Madson each added 9 points for the Raiders.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Nicollet senior AJ Kramer looks to pass the ball inside during the second half of a Section 2A Boys Basketball Tournament semifinals game against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton on Monday at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

The Raiders kept the Bulldogs’ lead within single digits for much of the first half until too many turnovers had the Raiders down 41-24 at the half. Nicollet’s turnover issues continued leading to JWP points in transition as the Bulldogs pushed their lead to 52-26 in the second half.

“They played physical defense and turned us over,” Nicollet head coach Chris Hulke said. “We were a little loose with the ball, which kind of became a problem in the games we lost, and against them, it’s just a layup the other way every time. We just didn’t come out with the toughness with the ball that we needed to come out with. … If you’re not making every layup or every 3-pointer, it’s really hard to come back against the fourth-ranked team in the state.”

The Raiders took their only lead of the game early after back-to-back buckets in the paint from Henry Oscarson put them ahead 6-4. Gavin Bauer countered with back-to-back buckets of his own before Caleb Quast rebounded a missed 3 and put it back for a 10-6 JWP lead.

Kettner canned a 3 to have the Raiders down 12-9, but the Bulldogs got a 3 back from Gavin Bauer and shortly after stretched their lead to double digits, 19-9, on a bucket inside from Quast.

Madson was fouled from 3 and sank all three of his free throws to have the Raiders down 19-12, but JWP began turning takeaways into points. After a corner 3 from Quast and a bucket inside from Daulton Bauer, JWP led 37-20. Kettner and Henry Oscarson had consecutive baskets to have the Raiders down 37-24, but Daulton Bauer drove a wide-open lane for a layup with 3 seconds to go in the half and the Bulldogs led 41-24 at halftime.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Nicollet’s Henry Kennedy, left, is talked to by teammate Abe Madson after Kennedy scored a layup and drew a foul during in the second half of Monday’s Section 2A Boys Basketball Tournament semifinals game against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton at Gustavus Adolphus College.

After the Bulldogs increased their lead to 52-26, Madson hit back-to-back 3s to kick off what ended up being a 13-0 Raider run. An and-one by Kennedy and a Kettner-to-Toby Oscarson bucket had the Raiders down 52-37, which forced a JWP timeout with 12:25 to play. Keegan Hulke scored in the paint to complete the run and have the Raiders down 52-39.

Coach Hulke said he made some defensive adjustments before the run started to surprise the Bulldogs.

“It really had them confused for a good stretch of the second half, and our guys played hard,” he said. “I was just proud of the effort. We got a few buckets, they knocked in a couple 3s, we got a bunch of steals. Henry Kennedy was getting some rebounds. But defensively we just got stops and we stopped turning it over for that stretch. We got a bunch of layups and a 13-0 run and they called a timeout.”

JWP’s intense defense wore the Raiders down after that run, however. The Bulldogs started forcing more Nicollet turnovers for points again, pushing their lead back up to 60-41.

Weedman hit an open 3 from the corner with less than four minutes to play and a minute to give JWP a 67-48 lead and a moving screen call on Nicollet turned the ball over and ended up leading to a baseline drive and bucket by Quast for a 69-48 lead. JWP got its lead back up to 20 after that and the Raiders got the final bucket off the bench on a 3 from Jacob Volby.

Nicollet graduates five seniors in Henry Oscarson, Keegan Hulke, Volby, AJ Kramer and Dawson Roberts.

Coach Hulke said he’s going to miss all of his seniors but it’s obviously tougher for him knowing he won’t coach his son Keegan again. He was proud of his team that set a program record in wins with 23 this season and stuck with it through some tough seasons, such as the 2023-24 season when Nicollet was 0-25.

“So many memories for our whole team,” coach Hulke said. “A little emotional because the seniors, that group, that chapter is over, the seniors are out and it’s a new team, but we’ll be very good next year, just a different thing. For the guys that didn’t quit when we had zero wins, that came in every day and busted their butts, the seniors set great examples of how hard to work and not just for the juniors and sophomores, but for the second-graders and junior high team.

“We turned the whole culture around and that’s what we’ll remember about this year. Lost to the fourth-ranked team in the state, that’s not a bad way to go out, but it’s just sad it’s over. Not seeing that same group in the locker room, and again, obviously like I said, coaching Keegan will forever be something I’m grateful for, so that will hurt a bit, but like we told the boys in the locker room, ‘Remember the memories.'”