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When you look back at where the Wildcats have come as a team from the beginning of the season to now, it’s safe to say that last week was their best week yet. They didn’t just win both games, they dominated both contests, improving to 6-2 in conference and 12-2 overall. The ‘Cats now stand one game off the conference lead with one month of play left to go.

Chisago Lakes 74

St. Michael-Albertville 58

Last Tuesday in St. Michael, Chisago Lakes used a burst in both the second and fourth quarters to sink the Knights, leading to a 74-58 win.

Playing in a gym that has historically been tough for Herb Jangor and his team, the Wildcats didn’t let that bother them as they played the Knights even through the first quarter of play. As he’s done so many times this season, David Olson helped set the tone, scoring nine of the ‘Cats 13 points in the first. Mike Tschida also connected on a three-pointer, trimming the deficit to one after one, 14-13.

“David played outstanding. He could have realistically scored 60 points in the game. He just stepped it up. He set the tone early by getting after it,” said Jangor, Chisago Lakes head boys basketball coach. “He came out and set the tone mentally, with his mental attitude. Early on, some calls didn’t go his way and he just kept battling, he kept playing. That set the tone. The kids didn’t let anything bother them after that. They had a job to do and they did it.”

Olson and company blew up from there, charging in front with a solid second quarter, highlighted by 15 more points from Olson as he struck for every Chisago point in the quarter but two. On the other side of the court, St. Michael mustered just 11 points, helping the Wildcats to a 30-25 lead at the break.

“The kids stepped up in the second. This time our seniors led the way,” mentioned Jangor. “They were prepared for this game and they played that way.”

Both teams scored early and often to begin the second half. While Olson climbed over the 30-point mark in the game with nine more points in the quarter, the rest of the Wildcats got hot as well. Tschida and junior Jason Kellum each hit three-pointers in the third while Trevor Johnson and Cameron Lallier patrolled the inside, scoring their first point of the second half. In all, Chisago scored 21 points in the third. Unfortunately, St. Michael was just as good, using five different players to keep the game within five. Three Knights scored five points in the third, leading to 21 points in the quarter. Chisago’s lead was still five heading into the fourth.

Two quarters stood out in Chisago’s win over St. Michael. While the ‘Cats second quarter surge gave them the lead, what they did in the fourth against the Knights gave them the win.

The Wildcats did their job on both sides of the floor. Led by Tschida, Chisago slowly built their lead over the final eight minutes, thanks in large part to their touch from the free throw line. The Wildcats hit 13 of 15 free throws in the fourth, including nine of 10 from Tschida himself. In addition, when they weren’t at the line, Johnson was making his presence known on the inside. As a team, Chisago made just four field goals in the fourth, Johnson provided three of them. The ‘Cats success on offense paired with some stingy defense (holding St. Michael to 12 points in the fourth) was more than enough to pave the way to a 74-58 win.

“The second and fourth, we closed the half and closed the game,” added Jangor. “St. Michael is a good team. They play hard and are well coached, and they play very well at home. It’s the first time we have gone there and played well.”

Olson finished the game with 35 points (33 through the first three quarters). Tschida and Johnson also reached double figures, hitting for 15 and 10 respectively. Twenty of those 25 points came in the second half.

“That was nice, that was the key,” mentioned Jangor, referring to the play of Tschida and Johnson. “We’ve been trying to get Mike to the free throw line more. He’s been relying on his three-point shot to score, but he did a much better at getting to the line that game instead of just relying on threes. Trevor played well, he really did a nice job inside. Also, Levi had about five to seven blocks in the first quarter to set the tone. They stopped going inside after that, so between Levi and Trevor, they really controlled the paint.”

Chisago Lakes 74

STMA 58

1 2 3 4 F

Chisago Lakes 13 17 21 23 74

STMA 14 11 21 12 58

Scoring-

Olson 35, Tschida 15, Johnson 10, Lallier 4, Maher 3, Kellum 3, Secord 2, Sill 2.

Chisago Lakes 104

Zimmerman 28

After beating up on St. Michael, last Friday, Chisago Lakes gave Zimmerman a pounding. Versus the Knights, the Wildcats scored 74 points. Against Zimmerman, the ‘Cats beat the Thunder by 76. The Wildcats finished the game with 104 points which is believed to be a school record. Forty-six of the ‘Cats points came from David Olson, which is also believed to be a Chisago Lakes all-time mark.

“Obviously Zimmerman is a young team and they’re getting better, but we just went out there and challenged them. We wanted to use that game to get better as a team. We went after them right from the start, mainly on defense. The game was basically over after the first two minutes.

For sure after the first quarter. The Wildcats scored 31 points through the first eight minutes of the game. Twenty came from Olson who dominated the Thunder with four three-pointers in the opening quarter to go along with four two-point baskets. The score was 31-5 after one.

Things got better, or worse in the second depending on how one looks at it as Chisago opened up a 56-17 lead. Things definitely got better for the Wildcat offense as 11 players hit the court and eight scored. In a limited role, Olson hit for seven in the second while Tschida added five points.

“The reason why we were scoring so many points was because of our unselfishness. Here’s just one example. Mike and David came down at one point in the game side-by-side for a lay-up and Mike passed the ball to David for the basket. He could have easily scored it himself but he gave it up. Now that’s just one example that sticks out in my mind,” remarked Jangor. “Three-quarters of our points were scored on assists. That’s amazing when you think about it. The kids really shared the ball.”

Already surpassing expectations on offense, Chisago Lakes charged out of the locker room at halftime with a new goal in mind- solid defense. They not only met that goal but surpassed it, holding the Thunder to 11 points in the entire second half. Thanks to that effort, along with their unselfishness on offense, the Wildcats lead continued to grow. Leading 78-24 through three quarters, the ‘Cats outscored Zimmerman 25-4 in the fourth en route to a 104-28 win. A total of 10 different Wildcats scored in the second half, including Olson who struck for 19 more (14 points in the third), giving him 46 for the game.

“At halftime, the kids wanted to score 100 points. Instead, we challenged them with defense. We set a goal of holding them to under 30 points for the game and we did that,” replied Jangor. “Again, we were able to score like that because of how unselfish we played on offense. There were points in the game where we had four or five players on the court who could’ve scored at any given time. It was just a nice all-around win.”

Twelve players finished the game with at least two points for Chisago. Three finished in double figures, including junior Cory Clausen who scored 10. As for Olson, his 46 points pushed his average to 28.2 points per game, a full two points up from last week’s 26.2 ppg.

Chisago Lakes 104

Zimmerman 28

1 2 3 4 F

Zimmerman 5 12 7 4 28

Chisago Lakes 31 25 23 25 104

Scoring-

Olson 46, Tschida 13, Clausen 10, Johnson 7, Maushart 6, Sill 6, Olness 4, Kellum 4, Maher 2, Aadland 2, Collins 2, Lallier 2.

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