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"We split during the regular season. I expect this to be a very close game," North Branch head coach Dan Schindler said before his Vikings met the Chisago Lakes girls in the first round of the Section 6 AAA Tournament.

Schindler was right. At noon, Saturday, March 4, the Vikings beat the Wildcats 51-49 in Rogers to earn a spot in the section semifinals against Rogers, a 78-12 winner over Columbia Heights.

Courtney Skoog's three-pointer gave the Wildcats an early 3-0 lead. CL built a 7-0 advantage, the biggest of the game for either team, before Kacie Ramberg's shot from the arc put the Vikings on the board.

Led by Tiffany Good's offense, North Branch gradually cut into the Wildcat lead. Good baskets tied the game at 9-9 and 11-11.  Wildcat guard Megan Corradi, who scored a game-high 17 points, helped keep her team ahead for much of the rest of the half.

North Branch scored with 12 seconds remaining to take its first lead of the game. Chisago Lakes came right back to score at the buzzer to take a 26-25 halftime lead. "Skoog had a great drive for a layup to put us up by one at the half," said Wildcat head coach Liz Mundahl.

After the intermission, Chisago scored first and moved out to a 34-29 lead before the Vikings went on a 6-0 run to take a 35-34 lead on a basket by junior Kristen Robatcek. "Just as Kacie (Ramberg) and Tiffany (Good) stepped it up in the first half offensively for us, Kristen really did in the second half. She had 14 second-half points and the game winning three-point shot," Schindler said.

North Branch extended its lead to 40-36 before the Wildcats came storming back to take a 41-40 lead. Robatcek went back to work, scoring the next go-ahead basket. Good added another hoop to give the Vikings a 44-41 lead.

Chisago Lakes scored the next four to take a 45-41 lead with only minutes remaining. The Wildcats were whistled for a foul following a Robatcek steal. She tied it from the line at 45.

With less than a minute left, Corradi hit a basket to give Chisago a 47-45 lead. "Robatcek came right back and hit the shot of the game, a three-pointer, to give North Branch the lead at 48-47," Schindler commented. 

After a Viking defensive stop, Good hit two freethrows to extend the lead to 50-47.  Chisago scored with six seconds left to make it 50-49 before Randi Zenter hit a freethrow with a second left for the exciting 51-49 win.   

North Branch 25 26 51

Chisago Lakes 26 23 49

Chisago Lakes Scoring

Kayla Schultz 4

Courtney Skoog 8

Rachel Lukasik 2

Megan Corradi 17

Kori Sells 8

Jess Peterson 10

Total 49

North Branch Scoring

Kacie Ramberg 11

Tiffany Good 15

Randi Zentner 6

Kristen Robatcek 16

Amy Aho 1

Gabrielle Olson 2

Total 51

North Branch (15-12) traveled to Maple Grove Tuesday, March 6 to play top-seeded Rogers.  The winner of the Vikings-Royals matchup will play the winner of the Totino-Grace-Mahtomedi game.  That game, Friday, March 9 at 6 p.m. at Osseo High School, will determine the Section 6AAA entrant in next week's State Tournament.

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