The season came to an abrupt end for the Hutchinson boys basketball team Saturday after an 86-42 drubbing from No. 2-ranked Mankato East at the Lund Center in St. Peter.
The game was pretty much over from the tip as the Cougars were far and away the better team and showed it in the opening minutes. East went on runs of 9-0 and 11-0 as Hutch fell behind 38-11 and eventually went into halftime down 51-17.
“They have better athletes than we do,” head coach Mark McGraw said. “They’re longer, faster, more shooters, and we were just hoping that we were going to catch them on a night that they were off. But we also knew that last year that when we played them really well, that they circled the calendar for hopefully trying to play us again this year and show everyone that last year was a fluke. That they weren’t just 16 points better than us, and they wanted to put a big win against us. They did, they came at us with full force.”
The Cougars scored at will and attacked any defense the Tigers tried to throw at them. East made 58 percent of its shots including 12-of-25 from 3-point range to show off its offensive firepower. They added insult to injury as players pulled out some impressive half-court dunks in the game.
On the other end, it was just as tough for the Tigers to score. Hutch only made 27 percent of its shots from the floor and made just two of its 10 3-pointer attempts. They also committed 19 turnovers that led to 25 points.
While it’s a hard way to end a season, especially after having the team’s best year in a decade, McGraw said the team had plenty to be proud of. The Tigers were playing in their first section semifinal since 2015, and they ended the year with a 15-13 overall record.
“We’ve improved a lot from last year,” sophomore Sam Rensch said. “It’s just going to keep going up from here. We only have one senior this year. We’re going to get really good next year.”
That senior is Russell Corrigan. The star athlete and four-year member of the basketball team was the lone player to lace-up for the last time as a Hutch Tiger. The school’s all-time rebounder, scorer, and the player who has appeared in the most games has been through the ups and downs with the team, and now he says farewell.
“It’s been a great ride,” he said. “Me and coach (McGraw) went through it all. We went from two wins to 15, so what a great ride with everybody.”
For the players still on the team, this loss will leave a bad taste in their mouth. Nobody likes to lose by 40 points, especially not in a playoff game. With the loss and a good season to build off, that mix may give the program more drive going forward.
“It just gives us motivation to work really hard in the summer,” Rensch said, “because we don’t want this to happen to us again.”
Section 2AAA Boys Basketball Tournament (Mar. 7)
Makato East 86, Hutchinson 42
Hutchinson ....... 17 25 — 42
Mankato East ... 51 35 — 86
Points: Russell Corrigan 12, Devon Verhasselt 7, Zach Kuseske 6, Sam Rensch 6, Billy Marquardt 4, Brayden Johnson 4, Aaron Elliott 3
Rebounds: Verhasselt 6, Kuseske 6, Rensch 6, Carson Hutton 3, Elliott 3, Corrigan 3, Marquardt 1, Johnson 1
Assists: Corrigan 3, Verhasselt 2, Hutton 1, Marquardt 1, Rensch 1
Steals: Verhasselt 1, Johnson 1, Corrigan 1
Blocks: Marquardt 1
