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The Wildcat girls' hoop squad came out with one of its best efforts of the year even with two starters out with injuries for the second consecutive game. The shorthanded 'Cats forced an overtime with with the second place, 13 and 2 Totino-Grace Eagles before falling 52-45 at CLHS Tuesday, February 6.

Playing without the injured Jess Peterson and Kori Sells, the Wildcats rose to the occasion against one of the North Suburban Conference's best. In the first half, they played very well on the offensive end as they took a 30-21 advantage.

"Megan Corradi, Courtney Skoog, and Kayla Schultz all stepped up. I'm proud of the leadership those three upperclassmen displayed," said Wildcat head coach Liz Mundahl. "They also got us going defensively. Skoog had some great steals and capitalized on the other end. Schultz took two key charges that kept the momentum in our favor in the first half, and Corradi did an excellent job on the boards.

"Without Peterson and Sells on the inside, I thought rebounding would be a problem for us. But rebounding is attitude and we wanted it more. Offensively, in the first half we pushed the ball up the court and controlled the tempo, and our defense created our offense," the coach continued.

In the second half, neither team was able to score for the first three minutes. When Corradi drove into the lane and pulled up for a 10 footer with 14:40 left, the home team led 32-21.

A minute later, an Eagle three started a four-minute, 13-0 run that gave them a 34-32 lead at 9:55. During the run, the Eagles were able to take advantage of their height to get some easy baskets inside. Perhaps as important as the score, the Wildcats had been whistled for six fouls, compared to one for Totino.

Jaime Tschida tied it at 34 with six minutes left before the Eagles scored the next five, including three from the line, to take a 39-34 lead. Skoog and Corradi scored on each side of an Eagle hoop to make it 43-40 with 55 seconds on the clock.

"Down by three, a hustle play by freshman Rachel Lukasik kept the possession alive and enabled Corradi to hit a three with about 10 seconds left to tie it up at 43," Mundahl said. "In the second half, Totino slowed us down with more pressure, which created turnovers. The kids never gave up, even when we were down by four to six points in regulation."

In the overtime, two Lukasik freethrows tied it at 45 with 2:19 left. Neither team scored until the Eagles made a long three with 53 seconds to go. After a Wildcat miss, Totino took advantage of two trips to the charity stripe to score the game's last four points to make the final 52-45.

"In overtime, we had some great looks right away, but then struggled to score. Again, our defense stopped them in the first three possessions, but it wasn't enough. If we keep playing like this our next four regular season games will be fun. We're where we want to be. We keep improving with every game and haven't peaked yet," Mundahl added.

Chisago Lakes 30 13 2 45

Totino-Grace 21 22 9 52

Chisago Lakes Scoring

Kayla Schultz 7

Jaime Tschida 2

Courtney Skoog 9

Rachel Lukasik 9

Megan Corradi 18

Total 45

"Facing adversity....I thought we played excellent. We played the best defense we've played all year and made Totino work," said Mundahl. "Our effort, hustle and heart were unstoppable. I'm very proud of the way the kids played. It was fun to watch and exciting for our team and fans. The kids executed the game plan perfectly and were very focused and coachable in the practice leading up to the game. It was the first time I saw us dominate on defense and really control most of the game," Mundahl concluded.

Chisago Lakes at Irondal 

The Wildcats picked up a conference win by beating Irondale 55-53 on the Knights' court Friday, February 9.

"It was a team effort Friday night," said Chisago Lakes head coach Liz Mundahl.  "The girls showed a lot of confidence in themselves and each other.  We are playing good basketball right now, but I believe the best has yet to come."

Mundahl is very pleased with the effort of her players in the absence of two injured starters.

The coach said, "Courtney Skoog has stepped up her offense and continues to play her pressure style of defense.  She plays so hard and is so competitive. She plays all-out for 36 minutes.  Freshman Rachel Lukasik has averaged almost 11 points in the last two games she has started and has picked up some of the rebounding since Peterson and Sells have been out.  Brenna Coyle also hit the boards hard and had some key plays for us down the stretch. 

"On offense, Megan Corradi took this team on her back and did a great job of leading.  She made great decisions on offense and was very steady.  She really took over the game, and made everyone around her better. 

"Mackenzie Maher has also started to become an offensive threat and had a key three point basket.  She has been improving with every game and continues to bring a lot of energy on the defensive end," Mundahl added.

"This was a big win for us...beating a team we lost to in overtime the first time around.  It shows the kids that they have improved and are capable of playing with anyone in our conference.  It also gets us on track for the last stretch of conference games before playoffs.  When they play with heart and play as a team this group is capable of anything." Mundahl concluded.

Chisago Lakes 23 32 55

Irondale 20 33 53

Chisago Lakes Scoring

Kayla Schultz 9

Jaime Tschida 2

Courtney Skoog 7

Rachel Lukasik 12

Mackenzie Maher 3

Megan Corradi 20

Brenna Coyle 2

Total 55

The Wildcats complete their regular season schedule with games at Spring Lake Park Friday, February 16 and at home against Robbinsdale-Cooper Tuesday. February 20. Both contests are scheduled to begin at 7:15.

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