The 13th-seeded Raiders had a 22-point at halftime and kept their foot on the gas in the second half as they cruised past No. 20-seeded Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart for an 81-35 win in the first round of the Section 2A Boys Basketball Tournament.

Keegan Hulke led the Raiders (14-13) in the win with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Henry Kennedy had 15 points and seven assists and AJ Kramer had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Carson Kettner added 11 points and five rebounds for Nicollet.

“This is a great atmosphere, we haven’t won a playoff game in a while,” Kramer said. “It just feels good.”

Hulke said he was happy to be a part of breaking a playoff skid.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Nicollet’s Keegan Hulke (5) scores on a layup while trailed by Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart’s Grady Wegscheid (2) during a Section 2A boys basketball playoff game at Nicollet High School on Friday night.

“Five years since we’ve won a playoff game … it means a lot,” Hulke said. “We’re really good … we’re scary.”

The Raiders will have to remain really good on Tuesday when they travel to No. 4-seeded Madelia for a 7 p.m. second-round playoff game. The Raiders fell to Madelia 86-78 at home on Dec. 12, 2024, and then dropped a game at Madelia 86-66 on Jan. 27.

Cameron McColley led the Mustangs (0-27) with 10 points.

Regardless of the fact the Mustangs were the 20th seed in the tourney, the Raiders’ play showed a team that is hitting its stride at the perfect time. Despite a seven-game win streak being snapped against Sibley East this past Tuesday, the Raiders were firing on all cylinders again Friday night.

Hulke, who knocked down four 3s in the game, said the team’s ability to find the open man and share the ball was big in the win.

“We’re very unselfish, we find each other when we’re open,” Hulke said. “It’s very fun.”

Kramer, who had two of his assists go to Hulke for 3s, said he works well with his fellow junior.

“I think we’ve just got that amazing team chemistry,” Kramer said. “I think we can make plays together and I just think we’re a wonderful duo.”

Kennedy showed off his passing skills on more than one occasion also, with one of his assists being a perfectly placed alley-oop pass to Kettner, who caught it and finished with a layup off the glass.

After Carter Grunau hit a 3 to have BLHS down 10-7, Hulke answered with a 3 of his own. McColley got another 3 to drop moments later to have the Mustangs down 15-10, but Kettner scored inside and Henry Oscarson scored on a fast-break layup to force BLHS to burn its first timeout with 9:31 left in the opening half.

After a BLHS jumper out of the timeout from Grady Wegscheid, the Raiders got a quick 8-0 run that started with a 3 by Noah Fitzner. Then came a steal by Kennedy and pass to Hulke, who bounce passed it to Kettner for an easy 2 in the paint. Kennedy collected another steal and drew contact on a fast-break layup, finishing the run with an and-one.

After the Mustangs cut their deficit to 10, Kramer recovered a rebound and directly dished it to Fitzner on a cut inside for 2 and a 29-17 lead.

Hulke’s third 3 of the night put his team up 48-24 before the Mustangs got the final points of the half on free throws from Cayden Wiggins to trail 48-26 at halftime.

After Ayden Buboltz scored for BLHS’s first basket of the second half, the Raiders got rolling with a 16-0 run to lead 68-28, the run finishing on a Kramer-to-Hulke 3. The Raiders never trailed and led by as much as 47, 81-34, which came after eighth-grader Toby Oscarson got subbed in and made back-to-back buckets for his first career varsity points.

With Madelia next on the schedule, Kramer said Madelia was a tough team to play and school to play at but is confident the Raiders can get an upset with the team play they showed Friday night.

“It’s a tough team, tough atmosphere,” Kramer said. “They’ve always got rowdy fans, but I think it’s a winnable game, we’ve just got to play our game and play together.”