March 23, 2006 at 8:47 a.m.
The agony of defeat
The agony of defeat
As they did in the Section 6AAA semifinal, the Wildcats got off to a fast start and controlled most of the game. However, a late surge by the Totino Grace Eagles resulted in a 65-57 defeat for Chisago Lakes and ended the team’s season one game short of a state tournament berth.
The ‘Cats scored first when Brian Jennissen fed Trevor Johnson less than 40 seconds into the game. The Eagles scored the next four and seemed to be heading for two more when Blane Maher’s steal led to a Chris Golv drive and a 4-4 score with two minutes gone.
Zach Sill scored on a pull-up from the right block to give Chisago the lead. Thirty seconds later, Sill scored again. Following a successful Golv to Olness fast break, Totino took its first timeout with 13:20 left. The scoreboard read Chisago Lakes 10, Totino Grace 4.
Over the middle third of the half, the two teams traded baskets. A Maher to Johnson pass and basket from the block came seconds before a Maher steal, score and freethrow. That made it 15-6 at the 11:20 mark.
Johnson’s turnaround from the elbow and his 10 footer a minute later were matched by a pair of Totino threes. With seven minutes left, a steal by Taylor Jones and pass to a breaking Maher put two on the board. Maher was fouled on the play. He buried the freethrow to give the Wildcats a 10 point margin (22-12) with seven minutes remaining.
In the next three minutes the Eagles outscored CL 6-0 to narrow the Wildcat lead to 22-18. Johnson went back to work and scored consecutive baskets for the ‘Cats. Jones hit a three with 1:30 left and Johnson hit another short one thirty seconds later to help their teammates take a 31-24 lead into the locker room.
“Trevor (Johnson) and Blane (Maher) were outstanding in the first half. Blane was relentless on defense and Trevor battled their big guys all night,” said Wildcat head coach Herb Jangor.
The Wildcat offense fell silent for the first four minutes of the new half. Meanwhile, the Eagles slowly climbed back into contention and closed the gap to 31-29. Golv pierced the lid on the basket when he buried a triple to make it 34-29 at the 13:40 mark.
Totino came back again. Two freethrows and a jumper brought them closer. With 12 minutes left, it was 34-33. At 11:40, Johnson’s move to the basket drew the defense to his side of the lane. He dropped a pass to Troy Aadland, who laid it in for a three point lead. Johnson hit a turnaround from the lane to make it 38-33 with 11 minutes left.
In the next thirty seconds, Totino took its first lead (39-38) since the opening minutes with a three-point-play and long three. Tyler Bouwens put the Wildcats back ahead with a three from the deep corner at the 8:50 mark. Almost three minutes later, Bouwen’s banker tied it at 44. Forty seconds later, he gave the ‘Cats a 46-44 lead with a 10 footer from the side.
“A big difference in the game was our inability to attack their half- court 1-3-1 trap defense in the first 13 minutes of the half. We had some key turnovers that just killed us,” Jangor said.
The CL cause was dealt a severe blow in the next 60 seconds. Johnson picked up his fourth foul at 5:10. With 4:26 to play, bodies were strewn all over the floor on the Chisago end of the court. In the middle of a scrum in the lane, with four or five players trying to gain control of the ball, the whistle blew. With play halted, one of the officials signaled a foul on “Green 43.” The Wildcat faithful disagreed, but Johnson took his place on the Wildcat bench. The score was tied at 46.
After the Eagles went ahead with a two, another Bouwens three put the ‘Cats up 49-48. Four minutes remained. Forty seconds had disappeared when Sill’s two freethrows gave CL a 51-50 advantage. At 2:44, Jones hit two charity tosses to give the Wildcats their last lead, 53-52.
“With two minutes to go and a one point lead, we probably needed to be a little more patient. After we gave up the lead, we still executed well. That still gave us a chance. I was real proud of the kids. They never gave up and were playing hard, even after we were down by five. But, they (Totino) made their freethrows and we couldn’t catch up,” Jangor added.
From that point, the Eagles used their size advantage to get two putback hoops. Once they got ahead, Chisago was forced to foul. Totino made 8 of 10 from the freethrow line down the stretch and pulled away for a hard-fought win and a spot in the class AAA state tournament.
“If you’re looking at statistics, it all came down to freethrows. They shot 21 and we only had 11 chances. Both teams were 18-4 (18 two pointers and 4 triples) from the field.
“I’ve always felt that you get what you deserve. For as hard as these kids worked all year, they deserved to have a nice run at the end of the year. Trevor went out on a high note and it was great to see these guys play three outstanding games at the end of the season,” Jangor concluded.
Scoring Summary
Chisago Lakes 31 26 57
Totino Grace 24 41 65
Tyler Bouwens ..................... 10
Andy Olness ..................... 2
Chris Golv ..................... 5
Blane Maher ..................... 6
Zach Sill ..................... 10
Trevor Johnson ..................... 17
Troy Aadland ..................... 2
Taylor Jones ..................... 5
Total 57
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