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Nicollet drops opener to Sibley East

Staff photo by Steve Muscatello Nicollet’s Riley Hulke (13) takes a shot between a pair of Sibley East defenders during the first half Friday in Nicollet. For more photos of this event go to cu.nujournal.com

NICOLLET — Nicollet boys’ basketball head coach Chris Hulke may have a few nightmares thinking about Sibley East’s Gavin Bates as Sibley East downed the Raiders 72-65 in a nonconference game on Friday.

Bates scored 35 points and he added 12 rebounds. Austin Weckworth contributed 12 points for the Wolverines.

Nicollet trailed by as much as 22 points mid-way through the second half before it staged a furious rally.

Coach Hulke said the team used a hybrid full-court style of a press which bothered Sibley East in the second half.

Ean Thomsen scored 8 points in a row for the Raiders. He hit four free throws and added two layups.

Thomsen added 6 more points while Hulke added a 3-pointer with a free throws. This resulted in Nicollet closing the gap to 67-61 for Sibley East.

Lukas Dose scored for Sibley East to make it 69-61 in favor of the Wolverines. Both teams traded trips to the free throw line with the game drawing to a close. Sibley East made 3-of-8 from the line while Nicollet dropped 2-of-4 free throws.

Nicollet’s Josh Chadderdon drilled a 3-point shot as time expired for the 72-65 final score.

Thomsen led Nicollet with 26 points, Chadderdon had 13 points and Dustin Bode scored nine points.

“We made a nice comeback,” coach Hulke said. “We missed a bunch of layups and 3-point shots. Riley was cold tonight and he missed some shots. We pressed them like crazy.”

Riley Hulke scored an inside basket for a brief 2-0 lead. The Wolverines quickly tied it. Things didn’t go well for Nicollet as Sibley East reeled off 16 straight points to build a 20-3 early advantage.

The Wolverines continued to score when needed and they had a 43-26 halftime lead. Nicollet began its comeback by staging a 7-2 runs to cut the deficit.

Nicollet (0-1) will play at St. James Area on Monday.

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