For River Falls boys basketball head coach Zac Campbell, the first of two annual rivalry games against the Hudson Raiders didn’t go anywhere near according to plan, as his team struggled to execute down the stretch and got away from the game plan when the lights got bright.

River Falls’ 47-37 loss at home against the Hudson Raiders on Friday, Dec. 9, was the first time all season that the Wildcats played a team that forced them to operate in the halfcourt offense without immense ball pressure. It was also the first time the Wildcats played in front of a packed gym with high stakes, and that took a toll on Campbell’s inexperienced varsity roster.

“I think as the lights got bright, guys bailed from our complete game plan. We didn’t follow anything,” Campbell said after the loss. “At halftime we didn’t make adjustments, we actually tried to get back to the game plan. We got a couple of things early, but as the game went on we just lost ourselves. That’s a byproduct of guys not being in that situation before.”

Hudson likely handled the bright lights and pressure better than River Falls did because the Raiders return seven key players from last year’s roster for the 2022-23 campaign. The Wildcats return only two players that saw any meaningful time last year in sophomore point guard Preston Johnson and junior guard Joey Butz.

See RF BBB, Page B-6 Hudson’s returning experience helped the Raiders jump out to a quick 8-2 lead in the first five minutes of the game. The Wildcats’ offense struggled throughout the first half but finally chipped away at the lead in the last five minutes before the intermission.

That’s when the aforementioned Butz went slashing into the lane and made an acrobatic layup to spark a small River Falls run. Two possessions later, senior guard Aidan Carufel buried a deep three-pointer from the wing to cut Hudson’s lead to three, 17-14, with under four minutes to play in the first half.

Then with just over a minute left before halftime, River Falls senior Josh Godden snagged an offensive rebound and made the putback layup to cut the lead to one point, 17-16, going into the intermission.

River Falls and Hudson battled early in the second half and with eight minutes left in regulation, the Raiders clung to a 29-28 lead. That was until Preston Johnson grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup to take a 30-29 lead, the Wildcats’ first of the game.

“We climbed that hump getting up 30-29 and thinking we were going to make a run,” Campbell said. “Then we had a couple of defensive breakdowns and we stalled out for a long time offensively.”

After taking the one-point lead with just over seven minutes left in the second half, Hudson outscored River Falls 18-7 the rest of the way to secure the double-digit victory over the Wildcats.

Throughout that closing stretch, River Falls struggled to get into an offensive rhythm. The Wildcats went long stretches without making a jumper and regularly passed up open threepoint attempts even though they desperately needed points in a hurry.

For coach Campbell, the consistently inefficient shooting and overall lack of offensive execution were surprising, given the makeup of this year’s roster. The Wildcats finished the game with 37 total points while shooting 37% from the floor, including a 1-11 clip from beyond the three-point line.

River Falls unquestionably has talented shooters on the roster. Preston Johnson, Joey Butz and Aidan Carufel all had success shooting from deep throughout the Stillwater Summer League in which River Falls made an improbable run to the championship – primarily because of strong three-point shooting.

That three-point shooting success has since disappeared to start the season. Through the first four games of the year, River Falls has shot a cumulative 14/75 from deep which averages to just over 18% per game. Coach Campbell spoke about the shooting woes to start the year.

“This is a team that shoots the ball really well, but we’ve got a lot of guys struggling with confidence right now,” Campbell said. “Even when we’re getting perimeter looks, we’re not taking it. Late game we had multiple times to shoot it and we’re just putting the ball on the deck. Guys have green lights to shoot it and build confidence, but it’s just not happening right now.”

Despite the shooting struggles to start the year, River Falls is 2-2 overall and 1-1 in Big Rivers Conference play. The River Falls coaching staff is making a concerted effort to build confidence among shooters and get the team out of its slump.

“The last two days of practice we’re doing elementary shooting drills,” Campbell said. “We’re just trying to get guys back to three feet, swishing shots and getting locked in. They just need to see the ball go through the rim and the more confident they become. It’s not about shooting more shots, it’s about developing confidence.”

River Falls continues its season with a non-conference game on the road against St. Paul Johnson and then has a game on the road against Eau Claire Memorial on Friday, Dec. 16. Coach Campbell stated that St. Paul Johnson will be a tough road environment and Eau Claire Memorial will be tough too, as the Old Abes are picked to win the Big Rivers Conference this season.

“We go to Memorial, who is picked to win the league,” Campbell said. “We go to their place and if we don’t have confidence in ourselves by then, we’re going to be in a boatload of trouble because confidence comes from wins.”

The game against St. Paul Johnson is slated to begin at 7 p.m. and the Memorial game is listed as a 7:15 p.m. start.

River Falls junior Jonah Severson attacks the bucket and makes a tough contested layup during the Wildcats’ home game against the Hudson Raiders. Photo by Reagan Hoverman