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Section 6AAA Championship Game-

Andover 74

Chisago Lakes 58

The game got ugly for Herb Jangor and his Chisago Lakes Wildcats. Really ugly.

Playing Andover last Friday in the section 6AAA title game, the ‘Cats and Andover fought for everything, and sometimes just fought. In a game that featured seven players fouling out, two technical's, 77 free throws and countless no-calls, it had the intensity of a championship game but the discipline of a pick-up game. In the end, after two of the ‘Cats starters were sent to the bench with five fouls, including their leading scorer, the Wildcats could do nothing but watch the time tick down on Andover’s 74-58 win. The win punched the Huskies (the number two seed in section 6AAA) ticket to this week’s boys state basketball tournament. The loss finished Chisago’s season at 24-5 overall.

“I honestly thought the whistle was in our favor. I watched Andover play Fridley (in the semifinals) and they man-handled them,” said Jangor, Chisago Lakes head boys basketball coach. “They were climbing all over Fridley’s big 6’8 guys and the referees weren’t calling anything. They were playing typical Andover basketball by being very physical. The fact that they were calling things early on them was in our favor.”

But it didn’t turn out that way.

Making it even harder was the fact that the Wildcats could’ve won, maybe even should have won. The biggest issue the ‘Cats had was from the free throw line where Chisago hit just 23 of 45 free throws (51 percent), missing 15 free throws in the second half. In addition, several of those free throw attempts came on the front end of one on one’s. It was the golden nugget of missed opportunities.

The game started off rough and grew from there. David Olson opened up the scoring followed by an Andover answer. That’s the way most of the quarter went as Olson scored followed by Andover. Chisago’s biggest lead was 9-6 on the heels of an Olson three-pointer before the Huskies charged back with an 8-0 run. Leading 14-11, Andover closed out the first with a three-pointer, pushing their lead back to six before Chisago scored the final five points of the quarter, making the score 17-16 after one. Olson scored 12 of the Wildcats 16 first-quarter points while Levi Secord added the other four.

Things got away from the Wildcats after that.

Leading by one to begin the second, the Huskies went back on the offensive, putting together a solid eight minutes of basketball. First, Andover kicked off the quarter on a 6-0 run, pushing their lead to 23-16. After Secord broke the streak with a free throw, the Huskies pressed on the accelerator again, this time scoring seven of the next eight points, jumping in front 32-17. When the second finally came to a close, Andover had turned a one-point lead into a 35-22 ballgame. Making matters worse, the Wildcats stumbled from the free throw line. Chisago hit just six of 13 from the line in the second quarter.

“They took us out of our game with their defensive intensity in the second quarter,” remarked Jangor. “We didn’t answer. We got away from the system. Still, even with that, if we make all of our free throws, we’re down by four at the half instead of 13.”

Things heated up in third quarter, literally, as both squads let their tempers get the best of them. After the Huskies had built their lead to 15 twice early in the third, the Wildcats chipped away at the Husky lead. Moving Chisago along was Secord who was solid inside. After scoring eight points in the first half, Secord went back to work. More often than not, that game plan usually led to a foul as the whistles began to heat up.

After Secord and company pulled within 10, things finally came to a head as Andover was whistled for a technical. Unfortunately, the Wildcats failed to convert from the line. Then seconds later, things went from bad to worse when Olson was whistled for his fourth personal foul. Trailing by six, 39-33, Jangor’s attention went from the scoreboard to the scorebook. Exactly one minute and 11 seconds later, Olson was again called for a foul, this time on a charge, forcing him from the game. At the time, the score was 40-34 Andover. Down by six late in the third and missing their leading scorer, Jangor addressed his team.

“I told the kids to find a way. He’s carried us all year and hopefully his senior teammates would find a way to bail him out and give him another game,” mentioned Jangor. “We made a run at them but they turned up the pressure again and we didn’t handle it. We let them rattle our cages.”

The Wildcats made a run alright, scoring five of the next seven points to pull within three at 42-39. However, over the final two and a half minutes of the third, the Huskies answered with a 13-5 explosion to bury the ‘Cats for good. The Wildcats simply couldn’t stop the bleeding, although they had a chance to. Chisago went eight for 16 from the free throw line in the third. Andover hit nine of 11.

“Look, the story of the game was this. A normally good shooting free throw team went 23-45. You’re not going win many games when you shoot like that,” commented Jangor. “On the other side, a team that normally doesn’t shoot free throws that well according to their statistics went 26-33. That was the story.”

Trailing 55-44 with one quarter left, the game finished like it started- ugly. Three Wildcats fouled out of the game in the fourth and one technical was called. Meanwhile, Andover found themselves on the bench as well as two Huskies were forced from the game. The ‘Cats clawed within nine with six minutes left in the game but that was as close as they got. From there, Andover finished the Wildcats off from the free throw line by hitting 12 of 15 free throws down the stretch en route to a 74-58 win. As for Chisago, the ‘Cats went seven of 14 from the charity stripe in the fourth, finishing 23-45 from the line for the game.

“Mentally we didn’t adjust. We settled for shots they wanted us to take instead of shots we needed to take. I stressed patience to the kids,” said Jangor. “We talked about everything before the game. I told them that Andover was the type of team that if we were up by 15, they could make a run, and if we were down by 15, they’re weren’t going to let us back in the game.”

Playing in his final game as a Wildcat, Olson finished with 17 points. Twelve came in the first two quarters. Meanwhile, Secord closed out his career with 16 points, and Mike Tschida added eight. Trent Froberg, another senior, added six.

After the game, Jangor tried to put everything into perspective.

“You don’t even get into all of the negative stuff. You reflect on a great year the players had, what they did for this team. It was a great atmosphere, the kids couldn’t even hear us on the court because it was so loud. You thank them for what they did and you make sure they understand what they did,” said Jangor. “This one was especially tough. It’s been well documented that this class tests your patience at times but I love them to death. What people should remember about that game and this team is the type of excitement they brought.

“David elevated his game this season,” continued Jangor. “Levi, the growth he has made from his freshman season to now both on and off the court has been unbelievable. For Mike to come back after last year’s injury was special. Trent (Froberg), Cameron (Lallier) and Kyle (Collins) are three tremendous kids who worked their butts off everyday, and Joe Maushart is a transfer who brought his own personality to the locker room. Those are the types of things you remember, not the wins and losses.”

Andover 74

Chisago Lakes 58

1 2 3 4 F

Andover 17 18 20 19 74

Chisago Lakes 16 6 22 14 58

Scoring-

Olson 17, Secord 16, Tschida 8, Froberg 6, Johnson 5, Lallier 3, Olness 2, Sill 1.

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