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The Wildcat girls basketball team used a strong second half to defeat Spring Lake Park 70-53 Tuesday, January 9. In a game played at CL, the 'Cats outscored the Panthers 35-21 after the intermission to gain the conference win.

Chisago Lakes got off to a slow start. The Wildcats committed turnovers their first three possessions and, through the first four minutes, only Courtney Skoog's three pointer counted for the home team.

Trailing 8-3, CL head coach Liz Mundahl used an early timeout. Four points from Amanda Farrell, two freethrows by Kayla Schultz and a long two by Jess Peterson made SLP's lead 13-11 at the 10:25 mark. However, the Panthers responded with four in a row to take a 16-11 lead a minute later.

Once again, Mundahl called timeout to remind her squad of what they needed to do. This time they must have listened well. In the next three minutes, they outscored Park 14-2 to take a 25-18 lead.

But, the Panthers weren't ready to give up yet. Following a Panther timeout, they went on a two-minute, 10-0 run that gave them a 28-25 lead with four minutes left in the half. The 'Cats came back to outpoint SLP 10-4 before the buzzer to take a 35-32 halftime lead.

"I thought, after getting off to a slow start, we did an excellent job of executing our offense," Mundahl said. "Kayla Schultz and Amanda Farrell had huge three point plays for us in the first half, which got our team excited and gave us momentum."

It was all Wildcats after the half. Led by the scoring of Peterson (13points) and Megan Corradi (11points), CL pulled away for the 17 point win.

" I'm very proud of all my players.  It all came together last night. They played hard, together, and very smart down the stretch!   We've been struggling with being consistent on the offensive end, especially with outside shooting," the coach said. "The girls played with confidence and hit some big shots when we needed them. Schultz, Peterson, and Skoog had key three pointers, which enabled us to attack and get the ball inside more in the second half.  Knocking down shots is a result of a team that is patient and makes good decisions and that was us.  We worked for a good shot on every possession.

"But, it wasn't our offense that enabled us to come out on top, it was our team defense. Getting into foul trouble early forced us to go to a zone. Spring Lake Park continued to attack and capitalized from the free-throw line.  In the second half, we came up with big stops down the stretch.  We forced them to either rush their shots or turn the ball over," an enthused Mundahl added. "Skoog, Tschida, Corradi and Farrell had some key perimeter steals. I heard a talkative bunch of kids throughout the whole game on defense. It makes my job a lot easier, knowing I have great leaders on the floor and kids that are all on the same page defensively."

"I thought this was the best team game we've played all season.  They did everything the coaches asked of them.  They're starting to buy into the system and the true meaning of team basketball and it showed.  I give credit to the players who came off the bench and played key minutes and to Peterson, Schultz and Farrell who really stepped up offensively," concluded Mundahl.

Chisago Lakes 35 35 70

Spring Lake Park 32 21 53

Chisago Lakes Scoring

Kayla Schultz 13

Amanda Farrell 10

Cassie Trandahl 1

Jaime Tschida 2

Courtney Skoog 5

Megan Corradi 11

Jess Peterson 26

Brenna Coyle 2

Total 70

CL at Robbinsdale-Cooper

After playing so well against Spring Lake Park in the previous game, the Wildcats took several steps backward at Robbinsdale-Cooper Friday, January 12. The result was a 67-34 North Suburban Conference loss.

"We were out of it," said Mundahl. "We shot horrible." The coach, obviously disappointed with her team's performance, added, "I don't have any good things to comment on or successes.

"We didn't show up mentally.  Everything we tried to do didn't work.  We were out of sync on both ends.  It was a complete turnaround from Tuesday's game vs. Spring Lake Park.  A completely different team was on the floor," Mundahl continued.

Struggling to come up with something positive about the game, Mundahl added, "Senior Jaime Tschida and junior, Brenna Coyle played well off the bench. They did the little things and played hard."

Chisago Lakes 11 23 34

Robbinsdale-Cooper 30 34 67 

Cassie Trandahl 3

Jaime Tschida 2

Courtney Skoog 7

Megan Corradi 8

Jess Peterson 10

Brenna Coyle 4

Total 34

The Wildcats play at North Branch Friday, January 19 to begin the second half of their NSC schedule before hosting St. Louis Park Tuesday, January 23. The NB game is at 7:15 and the SLP game tips off at 5:45.

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