Rustlers guard, Riley Rathwell, pictured here with one of his two 'Player of the Game' t-shirts earned last weekend. (Submitted photo/Riley Rathwell)

By Martin Martinson

Local basketball standout

Rathwell making mark with Lakeland Rustlers

Feb 3, 2022 | 6:00 PM

North Battleford local, Riley Rathwell, is coming off a weekend to remember at the college basketball level with the Lakeland Rustlers.

Taking home back-to-back Player of the Game honours in the Rustlers’ home-and-home series with U of A — Augustana, Rathwell opened the weekend last Friday with an 18-point performance, complete with seven rebounds while shooting a perfect 4/4 from the free-throw line, in the Rustlers’ narrow 87-86 loss to their rivals to the west.

However, not to be denied, Rathwell lead the way for his team the following night as well, back at home at Lakeland. There he took his performance to even another level scoring a game-high 22 points in 30 minutes of play while shooting 5/9 from the three-point line, and 8/16 overall from the floor in Saturday’s 84-63 Rustlers win.

Rathwell said while the recognition was nice, what ultimately mattered was getting the victory as a team.

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“It was especially good Saturday because we got the win,” Rathwell said. “A lot of it was my teammates, as we really moved the ball well and set good screens, and I was able to get open shots and knock some of them down which was good to see.”

Currently in his third year at Lakeland, but only second of eligibility due to the lost season last year with the pandemic, Rathwell’s emergence of late should only benefit the Rustlers down the stretch-drive this season, as his season average of 9.4 points per-game looks to be on the rise.

Rathwell said after a bit of a tough start to the year production-wise, he’s begun to really hit his stride and find a real confidence in his game at the postsecondary level, which often takes time.

“It definitely helped having that first year of experience, and then even last year just having a full year here to practice and train, a lot of it is just getting used to the tempo,” Rathwell said. “It’s a lot faster game at this level and it’s just about being able to play at that speed but still be able to play calm while playing fast; my first year definitely helped me figure some of that out.”

Lakeland currently sits third in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) North Division, with a 3-4 record through seven games this year. The team will return to play this weekend for back-to-backs at Grande Prairie versus the Wolves, Friday and Saturday.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1