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"We came out with a lot of defensive pressure in this game and it worked for the first 26 minutes," said Wildcat head coach Liz Mundahl. The coach was referring to the Wildcats' 70-45 loss to St. Louis Park Tuesday, January 23 at the CLHS gym.

Led by junior Megan Corradi and senior Jess Peterson, who combined for 22 first half points, the Wildcats trailed only 32-26 at the intermission. "We played a great first half on both ends of the floor," Mundahl said.

CL opened the second period by outscoring the Orioles 12 to 4 in the first four minutes. Senior Kori Sells led the way as she hit Peterson for an easy two at the 15:50 mark. At 15:40 she hit a jumper and, after a nifty steal, scored on a breakaway at 14:30. Ten seconds later, Courtney Skoog hit a jumper that knotted the score at 36.

But, SLP turned on the jets and, in the next five minutes, used a pressure defense and a fast break offense to build a 53-39 advantage. Meanwhile, the Wildcats found it hard to find the basket and the Orioles coasted to the win.

"A St. Louis Park three-pointer, turnovers on the offensive end, and consecutive SLP lay-ups enabled them to pull away.  Their guards broke down our defense and attacked.  We made some mistakes defensively and they capitalized," Mundahl added.

"We missed a lot of lay-up opportunities and shots in the paint down the stretch.  Our team learned that we are capable of pressuring in the half court and forcing good teams to make mistakes.  Our guards did a great job of getting deflections and diving on the floor. 

"On offense, our guards started slashing and getting the ball on the block in a position to score.  We moved the ball well at times and were able to attack, but struggled to finish.  Offensive rebounds have been hurting us as well.  We need to get second chances to score.  Peterson does a great job rebounding, but we need do to a better job crashing the boards as a team," the coach concluded.     

Chisago Lakes 26 19 45

St. Louis Park 32 38 70

Chisago Lakes Scoring

Kayla Schultz 4

Amanda Farrell 2

Courtney Skoog 4

Whitney Tinjum 1

Megan Corradi 13

Jess Peterson 19

Total 45

Chisago Lakes at Fridley

Friday, January 27

The Wildcats outscored Fridley 30-23 in the second half to defeat the Tigers 49-46 at Fridley Friday, January 27.

"The key to playing an aggressive team is to make them pay by getting to the foul line," said coach Mundahl.   The Wildcats went 18 for 26 from the freethrow line, including several in the final two minutes of the game to secure the conference win. 

"We didn't play aggressively in the first half and didn't get some of the calls on the offensive end, while attacking the basket," Mundahl commented. "After a slow start during the first eight minutes of the game, we used our defense to gain momentum. Mackenzie Maher did a great job of coming off the bench and providing the energy we needed to get back in the game. She had four steals for the game.  She makes things happen with her quickness and ability to anticipate.

"Jess Peterson and Kori Sells did a great job on the boards.  At halftime, we talked about being strong, rebounding offensively and getting to the freethrow line.  The team did the little things in the second half.  We out-hustled them, got in on a lot of offensive boards and made our free throws," the coach added.  

The coach credited Courtney Skoog, Kayla Schultz and Megan Corradi for hitting big shots in the second half to keep the 'Cats in the game.  "They never quit, even when we were down 10 in the first half.  They played with a lot of heart.  In the final minute and a half our upperclassmen stepped up. Schultz made her freethrows, Corradi hit a bit shot and got fouled and Peterson had a key offensive rebound and got fouled on the putback. 

"Our leadership was excellent. Watching them play hard and together was fun.  The team needed this one.  They've been working hard and it hasn't always shown in the win-loss column.  This game it did, and we have to build off of this game and continue to move in the right direction," Mundahl concluded.

Chisago Lakes 19 30 49

Fridley 23 23 46

Kayla Schultz 12

Courtney Skoog 5

Megan Corradi 13

Kori Sells 2

Jess Peterson 16

Brenna Coyle 1

Total 49

The Wildcats play at St. Francis Friday, February 2 and play Totino-Grace at home Tuesday, February 6. Both games begin at 7:15 p.m.

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