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Chisago Lakes 48

Spring Lake Park 44

Last Tuesday, the Chisago Lakes boys basketball team got a glimpse of the future in the North Suburban conference. They saw first hand what the conference is all about, how physical the basketball can be, how good the North Suburban teams can be. The Wildcats also saw that, despite playing less than stellar basketball, they’ll fit right in.

Although, based on the way the game started, it didn’t look that way.

Spring Lake Park marched into town and took control from the opening tip, catching the ‘Cats off guard. Led by Ryan Drost, who scored seven in the first quarter and 14 in the half, the Panthers moved in front 16-11 after one and 31-22 after two. Herb Jangor, Chisago Lakes head boys basketball coach, was less than pleased with the Wildcats performance in the first half.

“A referee came up to me after the game and said welcome to the North Suburban,” remembered Jangor. “In other words, that’s what a lot of the games are going to be like next year. That’s the difference with the metro schools, it’s going to be physical. Spring Lake Park should’ve won that game. We didn’t show up in the first half, we didn’t come ready to play. Fortunately for us, the kids responded in the second half.”

They certainly did. Down by nine heading into the third, the Wildcats turned the tables on the Panthers, charging back with a roar. The ‘Cats were paced by their defense. Led by sophomore Zach Sill, the Wildcats held Spring Lake Park to four points in the quarter. Sill shut down Drost who had 14 points at halftime. Drost didn’t score in the third.

Meanwhile on offense, Sill and David Olson combined to score all 14 points for Chisago. Olson struck for nine in the quarter after scoring eight points in the entire first half. For the quarter, Chisago outscored the Panthers 14-4, giving them a 36-35 lead.

“Zach Sill was the difference, he was the key. His defense and energy really sparked the team. He and Jason Kellum were the two players that really propelled us back into the game with their defense and energy,” commented Jangor. “Another thing was, when I looked in some of the kids eyes, I saw that they weren’t going to let Spring Lake Park win that game. When I looked into David Olson’s eyes, I knew he wasn’t going to let them beat us.”

True to his word, Olson and the Wildcats finished the job, but they had to come back from four down late to do it. Down 42-38, Chisago outscored the Panthers 10-2 down the stretch. The Wildcats final seven points came from Olson himself who went six for six from the free throw line, sealing a 48-44 win. Olson scored eight of Chisago’s 12 fourth quarter points. The other four came from senior Levi Secord.

“That mental toughness has been lacking over the last few years. It’s been a long time since I’ve looked into a player’s eyes and saw that they weren’t going to lose,” replied Jangor. “The kids found a way to win when we didn’t play well at all. It was a great win for us heading into the Christmas break.”

Now 4-1 at home, the win pushed the Wildcats overall record to 6-2 on the season.

Olson led all scorers with 25 in the game while Secord followed with eight. In addition, Chisago Lakes finished the game 15 of 21 from the free throw line. Olson was 10-13.

Chisago Lakes 48

Spring Lake Park 44

1 2 3 4 F

SLP 16 15 4 9 44

Chisago Lakes 11 11 14 12 48

Scoring-

Olson 25, Secord 8, Sill 5, Maher 4, Johnson 4, Froberg 1, Lallier 1.

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