Nicollet falls; Hulke hits 1,000

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

NICOLLET -- Incredible, well ... no. But memorable, yes.

It just wasn't Tony Hulke's night. He missed more than he made. He missed easy shots.

But in the end, the Nicollet Raiders' junior guard reached the 1,000-point plateau for his career. Needing 19 points, Hulke scored 19 points Tuesday night in the Raiders' 78-59 loss to the Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Knights in Valley Conference boys basketball.

"I was struggling the whole night, I couldn't even get my bunnies to go," Hulke said. "Oh, man. I don't know. ... It's just so good to get it done with."

Hulke got his milestone point off a steal at midcourt. He drove down the left side of the lane, was fouled by the Knights' Adam Sharits, and hit the first of his two free-throw attempts to reach 1,000 points with 58 seconds left in the game.

Hulke, who was only 7-for-24 from the field, missed two easy layups in the fourth quarter. But he got within one point of 1,000 when he hit a 3 from the top of the key with 1:10 remaining.

"I thought that he wasn't going to make it a few times," Nicollet coach Kory Kettner said. "He missed a few layups, but he kept after it. He played hard all night. That's all you can ask."

With the Knights' lead comfortably in double digits the entire fourth quarter, Kettner pulled his starters late in the game -- all except for Hulke. LCWM coach John Madsen also pulled his starters.

"Hulke's a great ballplayer," Madsen said. "He deserved it. ... It's an honor. I think my starters wanted to go and stop him, but I said guys, 'What happens if we sprain an ankle or something? Let's let him go for his 1,000 and take the pressure off and maybe he can knock off a team for us.'"

Hulke started out cold and never really warmed up. He was 2-for-8 from the field in the first quarter, scoring five points. Hulke hit only one shot in the second -- his first 3 of the night and had eight points at half.

In the third quarter, LCWM (9-4, 5-0 Valley) renewed its efforts to contain Hulke. He took only four shots, making two, leaving him seven points shy of 1,000 entering the final eight minutes.

Hulke missed his first three shots from the field in the fourth quarter. Finally, with 4:05 in the game, Hulke was fouled on a putback of his own miss; he hit the free throw for his 15th point.

"In the third quarter, I thought for sure it wasn't going to happen till Friday," Hulke said. "Then I hit that 3, so I knew it had to come sooner or later. ... I think it's good to get it out of the way. A lot of people were expecting it, talking about it."

Hulke's 19 points led Nicollet (3-9, 1-4). Sean Lassen and Mike Rosin also reached double figures for the Raiders, each scoring 12.

It wasn't enough. LCWM decimated the Raiders on the boards, outrebounding Nicollet 47-25.

The Knights also dominated inside, getting 19 points from 6-foot-6 senior post Joe Atkinson.

LCWM got 18 points each from Trent Hollerich and Kevin Friederich, and Justin LaFavor added 12.

Atkinson grabbed 12 rebounds, six off the offensive glass. Hollerich had 11 boards and LaFavor six. Paul Nourie led the Raiders with just six rebounds.

The teams were tied at 8 midway through the first quarter. The Knights went on a 13-2 run finished by Atkinson's three-point play that gave LCWM a 21-10 lead with 2:00 in the first quarter. Nicollet scored five of the last six points in the first quarter and the Raiders held their own in the second quarter, and trailed 38-32 at halftime.

The third quarter left Hulke's chase as the only drama in the game. The Knights outscored the Raiders 22-12, hitting six of their first seven shots. LCWM got five offensive rebounds in the quarter.

"Those second chances killed us," Kettner said. "We couldn't keep them off the boards. Atkinson played a great game. He's just so big and strong inside. They were the better team tonight."

Said Madsen: "That was our goal, we thought that was the way to win -- we had to get the ball to the post position. (Atkinson) did a good job. Joe can relocate on the perimeter. He can take the ball inside. It's a nice attribute to have."

Nicollet will host Truman Friday night.

LCWM 21 17 22 18--78

NICOLLET 15 17 12 15--59

LCWM (78): Edwards 0-3 3-4 3, Hollerich 8-14 1-3 18, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Miller 2-4 0-2 5, Friedrichs 7-13 3-4 18, Sharits 0-0 0-0 0, Hoeft 0-0 0-0 0, LaFavor 6-8 0-0 12, Nibbe 1-1 1-2 3, Jacobson 0-0 0-0 0, Atkinson 7-15 5-6 19. Totals 31-60 13-21 78.

NICOLLET (59): Hulke 7-24 3-5 19, Kramer 3-10 0-2 6, Lassen 5-14 0-0 12, Dierenfeld 1-3 1-2 3, Rosin 5-7 2-3 12, Koppendrayer 0-0 0-0 0, Hornung 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Nourie 3-4 1-2 7, Mettler 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-64 7-14 59.

3-Point Goals--LCWM 3-12 (Hollerich 1-2, Miller 1-2, Friederichs 1-3, LaFavor 0-1, Smith 0-1, Edwards 0-3), Nicollet 4-15 (Hulke 2-4, Lassen 2-9, Rosin 0-1, Mettler 0-1). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--LCWM 47 (Atkinson 12), Nicollet 25 (Nourie 6). Total Fouls--LCWM 13, Nicollet 18. Turnovers--LCWM 14, Nicollet 8. JV--Nicollet 50, LCWM 37.