By Joey Hudson
The Northfield Raiders boys basketball team (2-1 in conference play entering the matchup, 3-5 overall) hosted the Rochester John Marshall Rockets (2-1 in conference entering the game, 2-4 overall) for a Big Nine matchup. The Raiders were without big man centerpiece Kyan Rauk for the game as he was sidelined with an ankle injury. With Rauk out the Raiders and head coach Matt Christianson had to get creative with replacing his heavy load of the scoring output.
Kayden Oakland in the Raiders earlier season loss to mankato east. Photo by Jim Wellbrock
Kayden Oakland stepped up in a big way for the Raiders. He accounted for ten points in the first half leading the Raiders in scoring. JT Graupmann and Isaiah Mahal both put up 7 a piece on the board in the first with Mahal also flying around on defense. Mahal wasn’t the only Raider to have a great day defensively as they held an explosive JM offense to just 26 first half points, taking a 27-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half the Raiders came out with the same ferocity they had in the first. Kayden Oakland repeated his first half scoring output in the second, ending his night with 20 points on the board. John Marshall played very aggressive, putting the Raiders in the bonus in both halfs, and having three technical fouls on the day. One came in the first half off of a taunt, the second came in the second with a taunt from a different player, and the third was on a coach right after the second, letting the Raiders shoot 6 free throws in a row, which they made 5 of. John Marshall kept the game close, with the teams trading off the lead all second half as neither were able to pull away, until Issac Kram got the ball from the three point line and put the Raiders up by 8.
The Raiders were able to hold on to that lead with some nice defense and a smart foul at the end, to raise their record to 3-1 in conference play 9 (4-5 overall). We will next see the boys team on Monday January 8th as they take on Albert Lea. For any updates on that game or any other games on Northfieldlive go to our streaming schedule on our website, or follow us @northfieldlive on most social medias.