---

The Chisago Lakes boys’ basketball team lost another close contest Monday, February 6 at home. Somerset, Wisconsin handed the Wildcats their fifth consecutive loss by a 59-56 score.

The teams were close the whole game, with Somerset managing a 34-31 halftime lead. Junior Brian Jennissen helped keep his team stay close with 11 points (including 3 three pointers) in the first half. Senior Trevor Johnson chipped in nine points before the break.

“You have to give Somerset credit,” said Wildcat head coach Herb Jangor. “They wanted it more than we did.”

Jangor, who feels this year’s team always gives its best effort, thinks his team is pressing as it attempts to break its five game losing streak. In the process, he senses that his players are making mistakes that they wouldn’t usually make.

The second half was much like the first. Neither team was able to pull away. Both teams played good defense as each held the other to 25 points.

“We didn’t play with the right mental attitude. We didn’t play with a sense of urgency. Right now, we don’t have any margin for error. We need to give maximum physical and mental effort to have a chance to win,” Jangor continued. “We had a good effort, just not good enough to get past the frustration of a losing streak.”

The coach noted that Jennissen had his best offensive effort of the year. Jason Kellum (7 points) and Taylor Jones (10 points) carried the offensive load for the Wildcats in the second half.

Scoring Summary

Chisago Lakes 31 25 56

Somerset 34 25 59

Jason Kellum .....................13

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

Zach Sill ..................... 1

Trevor Johnson .....................14

Brian Jennissen .....................14

Taylor Jones .....................10

Troy Aadland ..................... 2

Total 56

Chisago Lakes vs. St. Francis

Defense and two patient offenses led to a low scoring contest at Chisago Lakes Thursday, February 9. The Wildcats ended a five game skid with a 48-32 win over the Saints.

Both teams struggled to put points on the board for the first seven minutes of the game. Cory Claeson scored on a putback at the 11:00 minute mark to break a 2-2 tie. The Saints scored the next six. But, the Wildcats responded as Trevor Johnson scored on a nice feed from Tyler Bouwens and Zach Sill hit a jumper from the elbow. That made the score 8-8 with 7:40 remaining in the half.

At the 7:00 minute mark, a 12 footer by Johnson gave the home team a lead it would not relinquish. Points were still hard to come by and and the half ended with the Wildcats leading 16-12.

The turning point in the contest may have been the first three minutes of the second half. In that span, Johnson scored five and Sill drained two freethrows while the Wildcat defense shut out the Saints. The net result was a 23-12 Chisago lead.

St. Francis scored the next five before Sill hit two more from the line to give the ‘Cats a 25-17 advantage. The margin was back to five (25-20) when Sill went high to snare a Saint miss, turned and beat the first defender at the freethrow line, went past two more at the timeline and split the final two at the arc before exploding to the hoop for an “easy” layup. Andy Olness followed with a putback and a textbook Sill to Bouwens to Jones break made the score 31-20 midway through the half.

From that point, Johnson and Sill, with a little help from their friends, controlled the backboard and made enough freethrows to build a comfortable margin.

Coach Jangor was pleased with his team’s performance. “We bounced back from a disappointing loss to Somerset. We agreed that we weren’t gonna get frustrated with ourselves. During the losing streak, we got frustrated. It’s not the turnovers that hurt us, it’s how we react to them. Last night, we just moved forward,” Jangor commented.

“This was our kind of game. We played good, solid, ugly basketball. If we can play hard enough while we’re not scoring to stay in the game, we’re usually OK.

“We controlled the glass in this game. In our first meeting, St. Francis had about 15 offensive rebounds. Tonight, Trevor (Johnson) and Sill did a great job on the boards. Olness hit some key shots and Bouwens ran the show for us,” Jangor added.

Scoring Summary

Chisago Lakes 16 32 48

St. Francis 12 20 32

Andy Olness ..................... 6

Zach Sill .....................14

Trevor Johnson .....................14

Brian Jennissen ..................... 2

Taylor Jones ..................... 2

Cory Claeson ..................... 4

Tyler Bouwens ..................... 4

Chris Golv ..................... 2

Total 48

The Wildcats are scheduled to host Columbia Heights Friday, January 17 at 7:30 pm and Irondale one week later.

---