December 14, 2006 at 7:45 a.m.
Chisago Lakes relies on defense for two victories
Chisago Lakes relies on defense for two victories
Chisago Lakes 23 36 59
Princeton 31 21 52
According to Wildcat head coach Herb Jangor, the ‘Cats played much better than they had in the season opener against St. Michael-Albertville. “Our seniors really stepped up and showed leadership,” Jangor commented, “and our big kids, Joe (Knafla) and Josh (Figini) really took it at ‘em.”
Knafla and Figini scored nine points each against the two Princeton post players. Knafla scored seven of his points in the first half and Figini scored all of his in the second.
“We made a nice run in the middle of the second half to take the lead,” Jangor said. During that run, Tyler Bouwens and Chris Golv hit key three’s and Taylor Jones dropped two from behind the arc.
“Our depth really wore them down at the end of the game. We played 16 kids and that helped us a lot. It gives us a lot of confidence to know that we won’t wear down. We were up by six or seven with about five minutes left. Princeton got a three with about a minute to go to get within one point. But our team just refused to lose,” Jangor added.
Jones had a big steal and converted four freethrows as the clock wound down. Zach Sill also dropped two from the line in the last minute to help secure the win. The coach felt the Wildcats’ success was due to his team playing hard, playing smart and playing together.
Chisago Lakes Scoring
Chris Golv 8
Scott Leigh 2
Brian Jennissen 2
Taylor Jones 16
Zach Sill 6
Josh Figini 9
Joe Knafla 9
Total 59
Fridley at Chisago Lakes
Senior Brian Jennissen’s offense and a stingy defense led the Chisago Lakes boys’ basketball team to an NSC win at home Friday, December 8. That defense limited Fridley to nine first half points as the Wildcats beat the Tigers 46-35.
Jennissen scored 10 first-half points, more than equaling the Tigers’ offensive production. He opened the scoring with a three in the second minute of the game. After the Tigers responded with a long one from behind the arc 10 seconds later, the Wildcat defense put the clamps on Fridley for more than seven minutes.
While holding the Tigers scoreless, the Wildcats didn’t score much, but another Jennissen three put the Wildcats up 11-3 with 12 minutes left in the half.
The last two thirds of the half was characterized by tough defense and very few second shot opportunities for either team. When the buzzer sounded, the scoreboard read Chisago Lakes 19, Visitor 9.
Fridley was unable to close the gap in the second half. “Fridley never got closer than seven or eight points,” said Wildcat head coach Herb Jangor. “That’s the difference between this year’s team and last season. With all the seniors we have, we don’t panic. We make a big stop or cause a turnover when we need to.
“We’re moving the ball on offense, but we’re not taking the shots we have to, yet. Tyler Bouwens has done a great job running the show. Taylor Jones (8 second half points) played well and Zach Sill (10 rebounds) is doing his job on the boards,” Jangor added.
“It was another solid team effort. The bench did a good job for us. Defensively, we’re causing all kind of problems. There’s not many teams that play the style we play. We’re gonna keep tryin’ to do what’s worked for us, so far. We have to play with intensity. For early in the season, we’re playing okay and we’ll get better,” the coach concluded.
Chisago Lakes 19 27 46
Fridley 9 26 35
Scoring Summary
John Hogie 4
Tyler Bouwens 2
Chris Golv 2
Brian Jennissen 15
Taylor Jones 8
Zach Sill 4
Josh Figini 5
Joe Knafla 6
Total 46
The boys travel to St. Francis Friday, December 15, before hosting Totino-Grace Tuesday, December 19 at 7:15.
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