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The Chisago Lakes boys’ basketball team fell to 0-2 after being defeated by the Princeton Tigers at home Tuesday, December 6. The Wildcats held a seven point lead at the end of the first half but the Tigers outscored Chisago 33-17 in the second and came away with a 60-51 win.

Jason Kellum gave the Wildcats the first two points of the game. After Princeton hit a three, Zach Sill scored for a 4-3 Chisago lead. Troy Aadland followed to build the lead to three. The Tigers tied it at six with another three.

Chisago tried to pull away with baskets by Taylor Jones and Brian Jennissen. The Wildcats’ lead grew to 14-8 after two consecutive baskets by Wildcat center Trevor Johnson. Princeton scored the next six and the score was tied for the second time.

Princeton took the lead on a field goal before the Wildcats created the third tie of the game with two free throws. With half the first period gone, the score was 16-16.

The lead see sawed for the next 6:30 and, with 2:30 to go, the score was knotted at 27. From there, Chisago took a seven point halftime lead on the strength of an Andy Olness bucket, a three by Kellum and two Justin Rivard free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining.

In the first half, the Wildcats had built a 34-27 lead. Coach Herb Jangor’s team had gained the lead with a very balanced offense and a defense that had pretty well neutralized a big Tiger height advantage. Ten Wildcats had scored, they’d committed only seven fouls and nobody had more than two personals.

Princeton came out in a 1-3-1 zone to start the second half. The Tiger big men made it tough for Johnson to operate inside for the Wildcats. In the first half of the second period, Princeton erased the deficit and worked themselves into a comfortable lead.

“We didn’t match their intensity in the second half. We got good shots, but we weren’t patient enough to get great shots. When we’re in a scoring drought, we need the patience to set up a layup,” said Wildcat head coach Jangor, referring to the fact that his team only scored 17 points in the second half.

“They got the easy buckets off breaks in the second half, like we’d done in the first half. Our biggest problem is that we’re not running our system on offense. As a team, we’re just not executing on offense. It’s up to our veterans to take the lead,” Jangor continued.

The coach praised his team’s level of effort, again. He’s very impressed with how hard his players work. “They worked hard. We were only down by three with about 2:30 to go. We were in a position to win, but we didn’t execute at the end of the game. We need to do more than just compete, to win. We need to execute.”

Jangor credited his bench for getting them back in the game. He singled out Aadland for playing a, “great, all-around game.”

Scoring Summary vs. Princeton

Jason Kellum............................11

Trevor Johnson.........................11

Troy Aadland.............................5

Taylor Jones...............................5

Brian Jennissen..........................4

Chris Golv..................................4

Tyler Bouwens...........................3

Cory Claeson..............................2

Andy Olness...............................2

Justin Rivard..............................2

Zach Sill.....................................2

Mahtomedi - Wildcats’ first win

After seeing the first two games of the season slip away in the second half, Chisago Lakes head boys basketball coach Herb Jangor challenged his veterans to lead by example.

They took that challenge, outscored the Mahtomedi Zephyrs 25-11 in the last eight minutes of the game and secured the first Wildcat victory of the season as they won 52-41 Friday, December 9 at home.

Chris Golv, Zach Sill, Trevor Johnson and Jason Kellum scored in the first four minutes to build an early 9-2 margin over the Zephyrs. In the next 2:30, Mahtomedi cut the lead to 9-7. The Wildcats responded by running off the next five for a 14-7 lead. The Zephyrs answered with four of their own and cut the lead to three, 14-11, with 3:40 remaining.

Both teams were having trouble scoring. A combination of tough defense and offensive mistakes had resulted in a nearly stagnant scoreboard. With 3:10 on the clock, Kellum hit a three. Sill scored on a put-back 40 seconds later and made the front end of a one-and-one at the 1:45 mark. Johnson ended the Chisago scoring for the first half with a free throw with 46 clicks left.

Meanwhile, the Wildcat defense smothered the Mahtomedi offensive efforts. The half ended with the home team enjoying a 21-11 lead.

Despite the lead, in this Christmas season, some Chisago fans must have been thinking of the ghosts of second halves past and fearing what might happen.

The second half didn’t start well for the Wildcats. Sill suffered a cut above the eye in a scramble in front of the scorers' table 30 seconds into the period and had to leave the game.

The Zephyrs’ pressure defense took its toll. Wildcat turnovers became as common as ice in the parking lot. Mahtomedi clawed its way back into the game and, with 11 minute remaining, the Wildcats’ 10 point lead had turned into a 25-24 advantage.

Coach Jangor had had enough!

During the Chisago timeout, Jangor imparted some high decibel encouragement to his troops. “Sometimes, you just have to get their attention,” the coach commented.

Following the TO, Johnson gave the local boys a 27-24 lead with a put-back with 9:50 remaining. Mahtomedi hit a three to provide the game’s first tie 20 seconds later. Another three gave the Zephyrs a 30-27 lead, their first of the game, with 8:50 on the clock.

Chisago continued frequent substitutions, searching for the right match-ups.

Johnson tied the score at 33 with two free throws at the 4:48 mark. A nice feed from Golv gave Andy Olness a layup with 4:10 to go. Thirty seconds later, Golv followed with a three and the Wildcats had built a 38-33 lead.

In the last minutes of the game, the Mahtomedi offense stalled as the Chisago defense took its turn causing turnovers. The Zephyrs got few good looks from that point and they were forced to foul as they attempted to regain some momentum. However, the Wildcats converted 13 points from the stripe over the last 2:52 and gained a hard-fought 52-41 win.

“Our bench gave us a lift in the first half. They gave our starters some rest and made Mahtomedi use a lot of energy. They (the Zephyrs) were the aggressors at the beginning of the second half. During a time out, Trevor Johnson told the other guys, ‘We’re not losing.’ We got the senior leadership we needed and the other kids grew up, a bit. Hopefully, they know what we have to do to win,” Jangor concluded.

Wildcat Scoring Summary

Zach Sill 15

Trevor Johnson 12

Jason Kellum 9

Chris Golv 9

Andy Olness 7

The Wildcats were scheduled to play at Webster, Wi. Tuesday, September 13 and at Breck Friday, December 16.

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