Padrick Judd is in his second season coaching Hastings' girls' basketball team. Back-to-back successful seasons have followed him.
The Raiders recently won their second consecutive Metro East Conference championship and are pursuing another 20-win season just like in 2014-15. They finished 22-6 a year ago.
"Going into the season we knew that it would be different," Judd said. "We were no longer going to be the unknown team, and we had to learn quickly how to go from the underdogs to the favorite. With a young team, that can be very difficult thing, but our coaches and players worked very hard to be where we are."
Hastings enters the final two weeks of the regular season with a record of 16-4. It has a 12-game wining streak, dating to Dec.22.
The Raiders are led by sophomore Krystal Carlson. The 5-11 forward is averaging 20.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game.
Eighth-grade forward Mallory Brake (13.7 points per game) and senior guard Sami Schorzman (11.7 points per game) also are scoring in double digits.
"We have a lot of smart players that understand their role on team, and continue to get better each game," Judd said.
Top performances
• Eagan juniors Patrick Acton and Ryan Steger claimed the top two spots in the Section 1 Nordic ski meet at Hyland Hills in Bloomington. Acton was the pursuit medalist with a time of 32 minutes, 7 seconds in the 10K event — 5K each of freestyle and classical. Steger clocked in at 32:43.
