December 13, 2007 at 8:09 a.m.
Wildcats start with a come-from-behind win over Princeton
Wildcats start with a come-from-behind win over Princeton
Both teams had trouble scoring in the early minutes. Princeton, on the strength of a pair of early freethrows, led 2-0 three minutes into the game. Senior Taylor Jones saw classmate Eric Reed cutting to the hoop and Reed took a feed from Jones and made a driving layup to score the 'Cats first points of the season. The layup knotted the score at 2-2 with 15 minutes remaining.
After a Princeton three-pointer, junior Henry Fitzpatrick's two and a foul shot by Reed created another tie, this one at 5. Junior center Josh Figini gave the home team its first lead of the season with a freethrow at the 13:06 mark. The Tigers re-took the lead before junior Cole Johnson hit a pull-up two and senior Kyle Hogie launched one of his trademark long-range threes. When it split the cords with 6:35 remaining in the half, the Wildcats enjoyed an 11-7 lead.
Less than a minute later, a monster two-handed Berggren jam created the game's third tie. With 5:55 remaining, it was 11-11.
The next two minutes belonged to the Wildcats. Corradi, a senior, assisted on a Figini drive, Hogie connected on a rainbow from the right corner, Figini hit a freethrow. The 'Cats led 17-13 when Berggren stuffed Figini's short jumper from the left baseline. Undaunted, Figini grabbed the blocked shot, stepped inside the big Princeton postman and scored for a 19-13 Wildcat lead.
Princeton scored the next five points to close the gap to one. T ienken scored with 42 seconds left, and at the buzzer, to give CL a tenuous 24-21 halftime lead.
Princeton's size seemed to wear the CL boys down in the first two-thirds of the second half. Over those 12 minutes, the Tigers outscored the Wildcats 27 to 15, leaving the visitors with a 47-39 lead that would have been greater but for Corradi's steal and basket with 5:55 left on the clock.
"Corradi's intensity really gave us a boost. If he learns to stay away from foul trouble, he'll really help us," Wildcat head coach Herb Jangor said.
Things looked bleak for the local fans when Tienken went to work. His baseline drive at 5:30 gave the Wildcats the first points of a 19-4 burst that resulted in a season opening, non-conference win.
Tienken's basket was followed by a Tiger freethrow. Figini's two foul shots and Jones' drive closed the gap to 48-45 with 4:12 left. A Princeton freethrow preceded another Tienken basket and Reed's two charity points. It was tied at 49.
" Evan (Tienken) is one of our most improved players. He's a JV kid who'd never played varsity. He probably worked harder than anyone else during the off-season," Jangor commented.
Figini's three from the top of the key gave the Wildcats the lead for good with 2:25 remaining. "Figini made some nice adjustments," Jangor added. "He had 19 (points) and 14 (rebounds). When he slowed down his shot and stopped throwing it up there, he did very well," the coach said.
Berggren's two freethrows made it 52-51, CL, 13 seconds later. Tienken hit four clutch shots from the line and Jones and Fitzpatrick added one apiece while the Wildcat defense silenced the Princeton scorers over the last two minutes.
Coach Jangor said, "When we were down nine, things didn't look too good. But, our defense got us goin' and really helped our offense. Taylor Jones didn't have a good night shooting, but he was still assertive on offense. Henry (Fitzpatrick) did a nice job on the boards. He got eight rebounds. Cole Johnson, Matt Jorgenson and Eric Reed did some nice things out there, too.
"That's the way it's gonna have to be this year. We'll have to play together to be successful. So far, they've done everything we've asked of them. The sooner we can accept our roles, the more successful we'll be. We've got a good group of kids. No matter what, we're gonna have a good year. We hope this sets the tone for the rest of the season," Jangor concluded.
Wildcat fans exited into the cold night with warm feelings about the upcoming season. The 58-51 win felt good.
Scoring Summary
Princeton 21 30 51
Chisago Lakes 24 34 58
Wildcat Scoring
Cole Johnson 2
Eric Reed 7
Kyle Hogie 6
Mike Corradi 2
Evan Tienken 13
Taylor Jones 6
Henry Fitzpatrick 3
Josh Figini 19
Total 58
The Wildcats host St. Francis tonight (Thursday, December 13) and play at Totino-Grace Tuesday, December 18. Both NSC contests start at 7:15.
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