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Wildcats split a pair of North Suburban Conference games on the week

CL comes out flat against heights, pound Totino Grace

Columbia Heights 84, Chisago Lakes 70

After a pulse-pounding, double overtime win against the Princeton Tigers to open the 2008 campaign, the Chisago Lakes boys basketball team came out flat against their first North Suburban Conference foe of the year.

"We didn't come ready to play with the right attitude," Head Coach Herb Jangor said. "And in this conference, the attitude can mean everything."

The Wildcats went into the contest partially blind, as Heights hadn't suited up for a game yet this year, but based off of the Hylander's dramatic turnaround last year when they finished 13-14, the Wildcats were expecting an improved squad.

They just didn't know how improved.

The trio of Harold Rainey, Jacob Thomas and Rakim McKinley punished the Wildcats early and often, and they seemed a little shell-shocked by CH's talent.

The Figini brothers, Josh and Benji, combined for 18 of the 'Cats' 27 first half points. Benj put 10 points in the opening half and Josh also sunk 10 points to keep the game within striking distance for the green-and-gold. Mike Sokol also scored five points in an attempt to spark the troops. "Mike had a nice game for us hitting threes," Jangor said.

At the halftime buzzer, the Hylanders enjoyed a 14-point lead at 41-27.

In the second half, Chisago Lakes was able to ratchet up the intensity on offense, but they still were unable to contain Heights' three amigos.

Josh Figini spearheaded the second half offensive outburst, scoring 17 points, but the Wildcats just couldn't defend Heights' offense. Rainey, Thomas and McKinley carved the 'Cats defense up for 56 points on the night.

The teams' had matching 43 point scores in the second half, but it wasn't as close as the score indicated. Heights had a 35-point lead at one time, and it afforded the Hylanders an 84-70 win in the end. The loss sent the Wildcats to 0-1 on the young season in the NSC, and 1-1 overall.

Figini had his usually stacked line, scoring 27 points and ripping down 10 rebounds for his second double-double in as many games.

Benj Figini ended the night with 19 points and Sokol added 11 points.

Chisago Lakes 70, Totino-Grace 56

Although the Wildcats still didn't come with the consistency that Jangor expects, they did come with the right mindset and did enough to earn their first NSC win of the year over the Eagles of Totino-Grace.

"We had a much better attitude coming into this game," the coach said. "We had two good days of practice and our guards finally stepped up with confidence."

Jangor was especially pleased that his squad didn't fold after going down 21-8 to the Eagles early in the game. "I looked in their eyes and they weren't about to panic, and they still had that attitude," he said. "Cole Johnson and Jake Warkel stepped up, and other players came through for us."

Although the Wildcats still went into the locker room at halftime down by four, they were rallying back from the early deficit and had the momentum in their home gym.

Like the game against the Hylanders, they came out guns blazing in the second half on offense. But, there was a big difference from the Heights' game. The Wildcats locked down their opposition on defense.

Josh Figini started to hammer away at the Eagles interior defense, and they continually sent him to the line, where he was perfectly content doing damage to the Eagles. He went 12-of-13 from the charity stripe.

Tom Olson, who had torched the Wildcat for 14 points in the first half, was relegated to only six points in the second half as he accumulated fouls trying to slow down Figini.

Despite the offensive outburst, Jangor was happier with the way the kids played defense in the critical second half. "We started communicating early on defense," he siad. "We picked up the intensity when we needed to."

Sokol had another good half for the Wildcats. After going scoreless in the first half, Sokol hit two three-pointers, as well as three free throw shots for nine points in the second stanza. All nine points came in a quick four-minute stretch. "It was a nice big stretch for him," Jangor noted. "It was a good spark for us."

Figini ended with 28 points and 13 rebounds to keep his season-long streak of double-doubles going.

Benj Figini added 13 points, Sokol had nine points and Johnson added six points in the winning effort.

Even with the 14-point win, Jangor has been around the block too many times to be content. He knows the Wildcats stil have plenty to work on. "We're not as good as we need to be," he said. "Three of our seniors did a good job of getting us going. Cole, Jake and Mike had some nice intensity and Hank Fitzpatrick gave us defense and hit the glass. We just have to keep getting better and be ready to play on offense and defense."

The Wildcats take on St. Francis and Spring Lake Park next week in two tough conference games. "We better be ready to play to start the games," Jangor said of the two road games. "That's what it'll take against these kind of teams. If you take a night off in this conference, you can get beat by anyone, and if you take a night off against a good team, you can get beat real bad."

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