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The Wildcat boys played inspired basketball Tuesday, February 12 at home. Once again, however, they came away without a win as Columbia Heights edged CL 78-75.

Taylor Jones hit a three, the first of seven for the senior, to give the Wildcats an early advantage. He connected on another, at 15:55, to put his team up 6-2 before the Hylanders scored five in-a-row to take a 7-6 lead. Once again, Jones hit from outside. Heights tied it 9-9 before Josh Figini gave the 'Cats their last first-half lead. The junior's two from the paint put his team up 11-9 with 13:45 left..

Nothing seemed to stop the Hylanders in the next six minutes. Led by 6-2 sophomore Jacob Thomas (42 points), Columbia Heights started throwing shots in from everywhere. Despite three Chisago Lakes timeouts, the Hylanders rolled up 15 consecutive points, mostly from long range, to take a 24-11 lead.

Senior Kyle Hogie ended the surge with a long three. With 8:05 remaining, Heights led 24-14. After a Hylander timeout, Hogie hit from the left corner, cutting the margin to seven.

Evan Tienken hit on a 12-footer, Figini went two-for-two from the foul stripe, Jones hit another three and Figini scored from inside to keep pace with Columbia Heights. Nothing but threes appeared on the clock when a single Hylander freethrow gave them a 33-26 lead.

Figini took things into his own hands for the next two minutes. He hit both ends of a one-and-one before his third block stopped the next Hylander threat. He scored three more penalty shots to cut the margin to two points at 1:38.

A minute later, Jones drove the lane, drew the defense and passed to a teammate. Henry Fitzpatrick took the pass and banked in a two to erase what had been a 15-point deficit. With 30 seconds to go, it was 33-33.

A last-second bomb sent the Hylanders to the locker room with a three-point advantage.

The second half was characterized by a series of runs by each team. "We took a six or seven point lead and then they came back," explained Herb Jangor, Wildcat head coach. "Then they took the lead, and we came back."

With just minutes left, CL trailed 69-67 and had possession of the ball. "We had a couple of opportunities to tie it up. We had a couple of shots that we should have made. But, we didn't," Jangor continued. "We didn't execute at the end, and they did. We missed and they didn't.

"They've had a season a lot like ours. Sometimes they've played one good half and not so well in the other. Last night they played well both halves. So did we. We're doing a lot of things right - everywhere but on the scoreboard. For the last six games, ever since mid-January, we've been in every game.

"Were getting a lot of respect from other players and coaches. But, so far, all we've gotten out of it is one win. We're really pleased with the way the kids have battled through this. If we'd have won one of these close games, we might have won eight or ten games by now. But, we're just not quite good enough, yet," Jangor said.

GAME SUMMARY

Columbia Hts. 36 42 78

Chisago Lakes 33 42 75

Wildcat Scoring

Cole Johnson 2

Eric Reed 3

Kyle Hogie 9

Evan Tienken 2

Taylor Jones 21

Josh Figini 34

Henry Fitzpatrick 4

Total 75

CL at Spring Lake Park

The Wildcat boys completed a double-header (Girls-Boys) sweep at Spring Lake Park Friday, February 15. CL overcame a five-point halftime deficit and outscored the Panthers in the second half to record a 64-61 conference win.

After a first half of what coach Jangor called, "racehorse basketball," the Wildcats used some different defenses in the second. "They struggled against our match-up zone," Jangor said, "and we limited their second shots."

Jangor credited patience, doing the little things, defense and hitting a few shots at critical times for the second-half comeback. "Our defensive effort in the second half was really key to the win. Hogie (Kyle) hit a couple of important freethrows, Evan (Tienken) hit a big three and Taylor (Jones) and Josh (Figini) played well, again."

Figini had another monster game with 29 points and 12 rebounds and Jones scored the points that put the 'Cats in the lead late in the game. With his team trailing by one, Jones drove to the basket. Many Wildcat fans thought he was fouled, but no whistle was heard.

"We came back with a good stop on the defensive end. On our next possession, we ran an inbounds play and got the ball to Jones," Jangor explained. "He scored to put us up one and we had another good stop. Hogie hit two freethrows the next trip down and that gave us the lead for good.

"It was one of those games where you're happy for the kids. We've been playing well, but haven't gotten many wins. This time we didn't make many mistakes. And, when we did, we came right back.

"When we win, it's because of great team effort. Everybody had a part in it. Even the guys on the bench who don't get a chance to play a lot were really into it. It was a good win. Spring Lake Park is well coached and they played hard. They're a solid club and, if they get going, they could get back to the tournament," Jangor said.

GAME SUMMARY

Sp. Lake Park 38 23 61

Chisago Lakes 33 31 64

Wildcat Scoring

Eric Reed 2

Kyle Hogie 10

Evan Tienken 5

Taylor Jones 12

Josh Figini 29

Mike Corradi 5

Total 64

Mahtomedi at Chisago Lakes

Saturday, February 16

One night after upsetting Spring Lake Park, the Wildcats were defeated 83-58 in a non-conference matchup with the Zephyrs of Mahtomedi.

"We were never in the game," coach Jangor said. "We battled hard until the last 10 minutes. We were down by 10 or 12 points until then, and still had a chance." But, from that point, the Zephyrs controlled the game while building their lead.

"They double and tripled Josh (Figini) and nobody else, except Taylor Jones, stepped up to take up the slack. We really missed Hogie (Kyle). He gives us another option on offense, but he hurt his ankle earlier in the day, and was unable to go.

"They shot the lights out in the first half. Part of that was due to our defense. We were a step slow and didn't communicate. We came off one our best games on Friday night and just laid an egg. No excuses, we just didn't get it done. It was one of those games. No matter what we did, it wasn't the right thing," Jangor concluded.

GAME SUMMARY

Mahtomedi 48 35 83

Chisago Lakes 32 26 58

Wildcat Scoring

Quinn Collins 5

Eric Reed 5

Mike Corradi 1

Evan Tienken 5

Taylor Jones 21

Josh Figini 14

Henry Fitzpatrick 5

Zak Vrudney 2

Total 58

The Wildcats entertain North Branch Tuesday, February 26 and travel to St. Louis Park the following Friday. Both NSC contests are scheduled to begin at 7:15.

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