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The Wildcat girls' basketball team raced to a 41-14 halftime lead and coasted to a 79-34 win over Columbia Heights at home, Tuesday, February 13.

Bolstered by the return of senior Jess Peterson and junior Kori Sells, the Wildcats scored early and often in the first half. "Peterson and Sells played aggressive and rebounded well, which was nice to see because both have been battling injuries," said Wildcat head coach Liz Mundahl. Led by Peterson's 10 points and junior guard Megan Corradi's nine, eight CL shooters scored before the intermission.

The 'Cats continued their dominance in the second half. Senior Courtney Skoog took her turn by scoring 11 points, including three triples, in the first eight minutes. Her offense led the Wildcats in a 17-0 run that pushed the home team's lead to 58-14 with 10 minutes left. "Skoog had a big game, scoring a game high 15 points.  She has been getting some great looks at the basket lately and they just haven't been falling," Mundahl said.

With the outcome determined, Mundahl took the opportunity to give some of her younger players some playing time. A season high 14 players scored in the conference win. "This game gave a lot of our JV kids an opportunity to play and for a lot of players to gain confidence," Mundahl added. "Hopefully this carries over into the next few games.  It was a fun night for the girls, and they're continuing to play well."

Chisago Lakes 14 20 34

Totino-Grace 41 38 79

Chisago Lakes Scoring

Kayla Schultz 4

Amanda Farrell 8

Jaime Tschida 3

Courtney Skoog 15

Megan Corradi 11

Rachel Lukasik 4

Mackenzie Maher 4

Brenna Coyle 2

Jess Peterson 12

Kori Sells 7

Kristen Tengwall 1

Cassie Trandahl 4

Alyssa Lundberg 3

Whitney Tinjum 1

Total 79

CL at Spring Lake Park

Friday, February 16, the Wildcats were defeated at Spring Lake Park 58-45.

"We didn't shoot the ball very well," said Wildcat head coach Liz Mundahl.  "We were 11 for 22 from the free throw line and missed a lot of shots in the paint.  Spring Lake Park shot the ball very well and had a lot of second looks at the basket. 

"From the tip, we never got into an offensive rhythm and usually hitting freethrows early on helps us.  Defensively, I thought we played okay, but we let them get hot from the outside and couldn't string together enough stops to gain the momentum.  We dug ourselves in a hole in the first half and battled back, but it wasn't enough," Mundahl commented. 

Chisago Lakes 19 26 45

Spring Lake Park 30 28 58

Chisago Lakes Scoring

Megan Corradi 10

Rachel Lukasik 4

Jess Peterson 17

Kayla Schultz 6

Kori Sells 1

Courtney Skoog 7

Total 45

The Wildcats begin section play Thursday, March 1. The time and location of that game is unknown at this time.

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