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The Chisago Lakes boys' basketball team entertained the crowd, including Gopher coach Tubby Smith, with a fine performance against Robbinsdale-Cooper Tuesday, February 19. The host Wildcats led the Hawks 35-31 at halftime, but Cooper outscored CL 50-36 in the second half to earn a hard-fought 81-71 win.

Wildcat junior Josh Figini scored the first two baskets of the game. After Cooper hit from the outside, CL senior Evan Tienken drained a long three. With 14:10 left in the half, the 'Cats had a 7-2 advantage.

That lead didn't last long as the Hawks hit a two, back-to-back three's and a freethrow, prompting Wildcat head coach Herb Jangor to take a timeout. The score was 11-7 Cooper with 12:25 to go.

A minute after play resumed, Figini outscored Cooper 8-4 in a two minute span. The 6'8" Wildcat center scored on a pair of shots from the paint, went two-for-two from the freethrow line and stepped out to hit a 15-footer from the left side.

With the score tied at 15, the Cooper coach called for time midway through the half. Gopher recruit Rodney Williams gave the Hawks the lead after the timeout. His monster jam and freethrow at 8:15 started a 10-0 Cooper run, interrupted only by two more Chisago Lakes timeouts.

Trailing 25-15 with less than five minutes remaining, senior Taylor Jones took matters into his own hands. A pair of Jones threes, separated by 15 seconds, narrowed the Cooper lead to four points. With 4:25 left in the period, it was 25-21.

The Hawks recorded the next two scores before the 'Cats went outside, again. Junior Cole Johnson and Figini dropped shots from downtown to close the gap to 29-27 at 2:35.

After a Cooper field goal, sophomore Manny Cruceru hit another Wildcat three, forcing Robbinsdale to defend the perimeter. Figini took advantage of the space created when Cooper extended its defense. He drove into the lane and pulled up for a short one at 1:20, giving the Wildcats their first lead in 12 minutes. Before the buzzer, Jones hit another three. When the horn sounded, the Wildcat fans cheered a 35-31 CL advantage.

"We missed some bunnies at the beginning of the second half," said Jangor. From that point, the Hawks gradually overcame their deficit and built a lead. By the 10 minute mark, Cooper enjoyed a 14 point margin.

"From there, we cut down their lead. By the four-minute mark, we'd cut the lead down to four. But, we turned the ball over five or six times in the final minutes," Jangor said. "And you can't do that against a team as good as Cooper."

Despite the loss, the CL coach had nothing but good things to say about his team. "The nice thing about last night's game was that the kids responded to everything they did. When we get everyone involved and swing the ball, we're a pretty good club. A lot of people wouldn't expect that kind of game from a team that's only won five games. We missed Kyle Hogie (out with an injury). We sure could have used him out there, but he did a great job for us on the bench, firing the kids up."

Jangor also praised Figini's play, including his 41 point, 15 rebound game against Cooper. "He's done everything we've asked. He's played as good a stretch of basketball as anybody I've seen in my 13 years here. We called his number again last night, and he responded," Jangor said. In the last four games, Figini averaged 29.5 points, 13.75 rebounds and two assists.

GAME SUMMARY

Cooper 31 50 81

Chisago Lakes 35 36 71

Wildcat Scoring

Cole Johnson 3

Evan Tienken 7

Taylor Jones 12

Josh Figini 41

Henry Fitzpatrick 2

Quinn Collins 3

Manny Cruceru 3

Total 71

The Wildcats complete the regular season with three road games. Friday, February 29, they play at St. Louis Park, Monday, March 3 they're at Fridley and they finish their conference schedule at top-rated Benilde-St. Margaret's Friday, March 7. All three NSC games start at 7:15.

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