Pirates Win 3 Straight, Improve To 6-4

By Kevin Yoder 

With Christmas break in the rear view mirror, the Hudson Pirate boys basketball team got back on the  hardwood with four games in seven days.  

 The stretch began with a home tilt with the 7th-ranked Denver Cyclones. The Pirates gave a spirited  effort from start to finish, but couldn’t muster enough offense and dropped a hard fought game 56-41. Only four  Pirates scored on the night, led by Tade Roberts’ 16 points and 10 rebounds. Blake Delagardelle followed that  with 9, while Bowen Backes and Jackson Nesteby each chipped in 8.  

 The Pirates next three games were each away from the Pirate Ship, and some time on the road proved to  be a recipe for success.  

 The first road trip took the boys to Dunkerton. Senior Anderson Yoder returned to the lineup for the first  time following finger surgery, and it helped spark the Pirate offense and propelled them to a resounding 68-44  victory.  

 Roberts again led Hudson in scoring with 17 on 7/7 shooting. But the story became the ten three-point  shots that fell, contributing in part to n15 points each for Nesteby and Delagardelle. Yoder finished with 8 and  Owen Bell an additional 6.  

 The second road game in as many nights saw the Pirates head west to Ackley to take on the AGWSR  Cougars. AGWSR was coming off their first win on the season and the Pirates were prepared for a fight.   A slow first quarter saw Hudson with only a scant two point advantage at 12-10. But that first quarter  became a distant memory as an offensive onslaught followed, led by super sophomore Roberts.   The Cougars had no answer for his dominance in the paint, and he scored so efficiently that it almost  appeared they quit trying to guard him. In the lane, at the line and from beyond the arc, Roberts rarely missed  on his way to a career-high 35.  

 But as dominant as he was, he was far from the only star. Nine different Pirates hit threes, as Roberts,  Nesteby, Yoder, Delagardelle, Austin Schroeder, Payton Bishop, Austin Kliegl, Colton Jensen and Jack Holbach  contributed to a 13/23 night from deep. This blitzkrieg resulted in an 83–30 win and was not only the Pirates  best offensive performance of the season, but it lowered their defensive average to an NICL Conference leading  42.6 ppg.  

 The final stop on the Pirates road trip was in Clarksville to take on the winless Indians. Another  smothering defensive performance, combined with effective perimeter shooting resulted in a satisfying 57-34  win.  

 Roberts did Roberts things and overwhelmed the Indians with 23 points, all coming in the first half.  More threes rained in from long range, with Nesteby, Delagardelle, Backes and Jensen ringing the bell. With the  Pirates up 43-14 at the break, the main rotation was able to defer to their bench counterparts for the entirety of  the second half.  

 Hudson returned home Tuesday night for another matchup with the Waterloo Columbus Catholic  Sailors. They are back on the road Friday night for their second game with the Aplington-Parkersburg Falcons.