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When the Wildcat and Viking girls' basketball teams took the court on November 30, fans from both sides were expecting an exciting, down-to-the-wire, last-second win. It ended in an 18 point Wildcat win at Chisago Lakes. The score was 70-52.

The rematch, Friday, January 19 at North Branch, was the same. Fans were anticipating a closely played, exciting contest. What they got was an 18 point win - this time in the Vikings' favor. The score was North Branch 56, Chisago Lakes 38.

The two games mirrored each other in many ways. In both games, NB got off to a fast start, only to see the Wildcats come back to take the lead. In both games, the team trailing at halftime, made an early second-half run, only to falter. In both games, the senior leaders on the winning team had big offensive games, while the senior leader on the losing team was held in check.

Kacie Ramberg hit a three in the first minute to get the Vikings off on the right foot. By the 12:44 mark, Gabrielle Olson had scored two times from the field and teammate Kristen Robatcek intercepted a pass and beat the defense to the other end for a layup. During that same period, only Megan Corradi's single freethrow counted for the Wildcats. The Vikings led 9-1.

The Wildcats came storming back. In just over two minutes, Kayla Schultz stole the ball and scored her team's first field goal. Jaime Tschida hit a three, Jess Peterson scored on a twisting eight-footer from the baseline and Amanda Farrell dropped one from behind the arc. The Wildcats led 11-9 with 9:40 left in the half.

In the next two minutes, Olson drained a three and then went 2 for 2 from the line and Randi Zentner followed her own freethrow with two from the paint. The Vikings led 17-11 with 7:40 left.

A Kayla Schultz three from the arc closed the gap to 17-14 with 6:00 on the clock. Olson hit two more and then assisted Zentner for an easy one and NB led 21-14 with 4:45 to go.

Corradi, Kori Sells and Rachel Lukasik scored for the Wildcats in the last minutes of the half. But, baskets by Olson, Robatcek, Tiffany Good and Olson, again, extended the Viking lead. At the intermission, the Vikings led 30-21.

The Wildcats showed some spark in the first six minutes of the second stanza. A Corradi drive netted two to close the gap. At the 12:00 minute mark, Courtney Skoog hit a three point banker from out front. Was this a sign that things were going Chisago's way? The Vikings hadn't scored since the break and the score was 30-26.

After a timeout, Good brought the Wildcat run to a halt with a three from the deep corner. Olson followed with a drive that restored the halftime margin. A Megan Scherer freethrow preceded Good eight foot pull-up that gave the Vikings a 38-26 lead midway through the period.

Chisago outscored NB 6-2 in the next two minutes. Tschida's hoop was followed by successive Peterson baskets from inside. That cut the North Branch advantage to 40-32 with seven minutes to go.

But, Olson took things into her own hands to score the next four, including an acrobatic, falling-to-the-floor banker. Zentner and Good scored to push the advantage to 48-32 with four minutes left.

With the outcome determined, the final minutes were played out with North Branch trying to use as much of the clock as possible and Chisago Lakes desperately tying to stop it. The final point of the game, recorded when Viking senior Amy Aho converted a freethrow with 9.4 seconds remaining, left the scoreboard showing Home 56-Guest 42.

In the November 30 game, Wildcat senior captain Jess Peterson scored 18 points and collected a raft of rebounds while Viking star Gab Olson was limited to three points and just a few assists. This time, Olson scored 24, assisted her teammates seven times and collected 10 rebounds while Peterson scored 6 and found rebounds much tougher to come by.

With a little luck, the two teams will get a chance to settle the score in a March section playoff game.

North Branch 30 26 56

Chisago Lakes 21 17 38

North Branch Scoring

Kacie Ramberg 5

Tiffany Good 11

Randi Zentner 7

Kristen Robatcek 4

Megan Scherer 4

Amy Aho 1

Gabrielle Olson 24

Total 56

Chisago Lakes Scoring

Kayla Schultz 5

Amanda Farrell 3

Jaime Tschida 2

Courtney Skoog 8

Rachel Lukasik 3

Megan Corradi 7

Kori Sells 4

Jess Peterson 6

Total 38

The Vikings play 7:15 p.m. games at St. Louis Park Tuesday, January 30 and at Fridley, Friday, February 2.

The Wildcats play at Fridley Friday, January 26 starting at 6 p.m. before returning home to host Benilde-St. Margaret's Tuesday, January 30 at 7:15.

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