Hudson JH Boys Tip Off Season

By Justin Michael 
Photo Credit: Darla Michael

The 2026 Hudson Middle School Boys Basketball teams kicked off their season on  Friday, January 16th at the Hudson Middle School Competition Gym against BMAP ( Waterloo  Columbus) in a 7th and 8th grade double header.  

The 8th grade team was led by Jace Rhoades with 14 points, going 5 for 8 from the  field and 4 for 8 from the free throw line. Followed by Beckett Hansen with 11points including  3 for 3 from behind the arc, Black Van Hove 5, Jackson Steele and Greyson Griffin each with 4  and Gavin Lidtke and Davis Germain with 2 each. Defensively Gavin Lidtke and Jackson  Steele led the way for the Pirates with 7 and 5 rebounds respectively. In the end the Pirates  lost a hard fought heartbreaking game on a BMAP 3 point basket with 3.6 seconds left  resulting in a 45-44 final score. In the 8th grade extra period match up, Josh Culham led the  Pirates with 11 points, going 4-6 from the field and 1 for 2 from the charity stripe. Dylan  Rhymer, Miles Jensen and Davis Germain each chipped in 2 points as Gabe Beach defensively  helped with Pirates with 3 steals and 2 rebounds resulting with the scoreboard reading 17-5 as  the time expired.  

In the 7th grade match up with BMAP, the Pirates were led by Knox Griffin's 9 points  going 4 for 10 from the field, followed by Lukah Bergmeier with 8, Cooper Warnell and Jace  Kuker with 5 each, Christian Michael 4, Joshua Strayer and Cole Curley 3 points each, Gavin  Kliegel and Cael Backes contributing 2 and 1 respectively to the score offensively. Defensively  the Pirates cleaned the glass led by Cael Backe's 8 boards, Lukah Bergmeier 7 with Gavin  Kliegel and Jace Kuker each grabbing 6 boards to help the Pirates cruise 41-16.  

The 7th grade team rounded out the evening with two extra periods, Kevin Haynes and  Brayden King each chipped in 4 points while Chase Klingaman, Rocco Thompson and Braden  Weide helped the teams cause by contributing 2 points each offensively. Defensively down the  stretch with a joint effort on the glass and in the passing lanes the Pirates helped with sealing  the deal as time expired in favor of the Pirates 14-11. Kevin Hayes grabbed 4 rebounds,  Edward Richard had 2 rebounds and 2 steals, rounded out by Sullivan Means and Elijah Gilbert  each helping out with 1 rebound each. Brock Gunnarson and Maddex Buskohl each got on  the stat sheet contributing with 2 and 1 steals respectively.  

 The boys play again at home on January 20th versus Dike New Hartford with the 8th grade  in the High School Competition Gym, while the 7th grade is in the Middle School Competition  gym with both teams playing 2 games starting at 4:15. The boys round out the week, hitting  the road for the first time this season at East Marshall.  

7th and 8th Grade Boys - Dike- Hartford @ Hudson  

The Pirates 7th Grade Boys got off to a slow start, versus a scrappy Dike New Hartford  Wolverine squad at the Hudson Middle School Competition gym on Tuesday, January 20th.  The Wolverines jumped out to an early 8 -0 lead, but the Pirates stole their way back into the  game, to tie at 19 for the first time with :52.6 seconds left till the half. Every Pirate that took  the floor recorded at least 1 steal in the game and comeback. The Pirates took their first lead  of the game on a Lukah Bergmeier free throw making the score 24-23 at the 4:03 mark in the  3rd quarter,and held on for a hard fought win 33-28.  

Led by Knox Griffin's 12 points, off 4 for 6 shooting from the field and 3 for 5 from the  free throw line. Other contributors offensively were Cael Backes with 6, Lukah Bergmeier 5,  Christian Michael, Joshua Strayer, Gavin Kliegl and Jace Kuker each chipped in 2. The Pirate  defense, which ended up a large part of the win, combined for 20 steals. Joshua Strayer and  Lukah Bergmeier each pulled down 5 rebounds.  

 In the second 7th grade game of the afternoon, much like in the first game, the Wolverines  got out to a 5-0 start. Hudson finally answers with 1:41 left in the 1st Quarter on a Christian  Michael three pointer from the top of the key to go with :25 seconds later again on a lay up to  tie the game at 5 all. The Pirates pulled a head, thanks to two free throws by Braden Weide to  extend the run of 7 unanswered points and a 7-5 lead after period number one. In the end the 

Pirates held on for the win 38-28. Braden Weide's 9 points, from 3 for 6 from the field and also  the Free throw line and Kevin Hayes 9 point off 4 for 9 from the field and 1 of 6 from the line to  lead the Pirates in scoring. Christian Michael and Rocco Thompson each chipped in 5, while  Chase Klingaman had 4, Jace Kuker 2 and Elijah Gilbert and Brayden King each had 1  offensively. Defensively, Pirates were led by Rocco Thompson's 3 steals and 5 rebounds in the  win.  

The 8th Grade Boys won game 1 in the afternoon, cruising 48-16 against the  Wolverines and also walked away with a victory in Game 2. Due to no game footage posted at  time of submitting the games updates, no additional score for 2nd game or stats for either 8th  grade games could be provided in Dike- New Hartford match ups.  

7th and 8th Grade Boys- Hudson @ East Marshall  

Both boys teams hit the road for the first time this season traveling to Gilman, Iowa, to  take on the East Marshall Mustangs on Thursday, January 22nd. The Pirates got out to a fast  start, and never took their foot off the gas, cruising to a 52-8 win over the Mustangs. The  Pirates were led by two dominant performances offensively by Cael Backes's 14 points, going  6 for 10 from the field, 2 for 2 charity stripe, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist and Jace Kuker's  8 points, going 4 for 7 from the field, 5 steals and grabbing 7 boards as well. Other  contributors in the win were Lukah Bergmeier with 7, Cooper Warnell 6, Gavin Kliegl 5, Joshua  Strayer 4, and Christian Michael, Knox Griffin, Cole Curley, and Rocco Thompson each  chipped in 2 in the game. Defensively it was another solid night in the steals column, 8 of the  11 players each recorded at least 1 steal with the teams total at 21 for the game. The team  leaders in steals were Knox Griffin and Jace Kuker with 5 steals each. The 7th grade boys A  team is 3-0 and 7th Boys B team is 2-0 early on in the season.  

The 8th Grade Boys team also breezed by the Mustangs in their match up winning  59-20. Due to East Marshall's Middle School gym not having a Hudl Camera, game stats were  not available to report, but it was another solid performance by the 8th Grade boys. The 8th  Boys A team is 2-1 on the season while the 8th Boys B is now 2-0 on the season. Both 8th  and 7th Grade Boys will be in action again next week, with both Grades hosting South Hardin  in the Middles School Competition Gym on January 26th, 8th at Peete Jr High, in Cedar Falls  on January 29th and the 7th Grade B ends the week, hosting Cedar Ridge in the Middle School  Competition gym on Jan. 30th.