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Chisago Lakes 74, Princeton 69

The Wildcats opened their season much like they did last year -- with a win over the Princeton Tigers.

Although they didn't have to go to overtime this year to do it, it was still a nail-biter that came down to the end.

Behind the trio of Benji Figini, Jordan Hickcox and Steve Ramberg, the Wildcats jumped out to an early lead over the Tigers. They were able to nurse that lead throughout the first half and enter the locker room with a 42-36 advantage over Princeton.

At the break, Figini had 11 points, Hickcox had nine and Ramberg had eight.

Things didn't change a whole lot in the second half. Figini, Hickcox and Ramberg continued to lead the offensive charge for the 'Cats. Figini in particular picked his game up, netting 15 more points in the second half to keep pace with a more accurate Tigers squad. Ramberg and Hickcox both added six points each in the closing half, and the Wildcats did just enough to hold off the Tigers, winning 74-69 on their home court.

Figini ended the game with 26 points and eight rebounds, Hickcox had 15 points, five rebounds and four assists and Ramberg had 14 points.

Bryan Eichten filled his role well, stuffing the box score with six points, six rebounds and three steals.

Osceola 68, Chisago Lakes 47

The Wildcats ran into a senior-heavy brick wall in their next home game. The Osceola Chieftains sport 10 seniors on their roster, including a magnificent guard in Tyler Pauley.

The story of the game for the Wildcats was their inability to protect the ball. They turned it over 25 times on the game, and it doesn't matter who they are playing if that happens, it's not going to turn out well.

Figini seemed to be the only Wildcat who was on his offensive game, as outside of him, they were two-of-nine from the field and four-of-19 from beyond the arc.

The Chieftains took a quick lead behind the sharp shooting of Pauley. He scored 14 points in the first half, included a pair of threes that really started to demoralize the 'Cats.

Pauley himself almost out-scored the Wildcats in the first half, as they were only able to put up 17 points. Nine came from Figini's touch. Ramberg scored five and Eichten hit a lone three.

It was a lot of the same in the second half. Pauley opened the half on fire, hitting four three-points, including an and-one shot in the mix for a four-point play.

As much as Figini tried to match Pauley shot-for-shot, things just weren't working out as the rest of the Wildcats were cold as ice from the field. Figini scored eight early points in the second half, and added 10 more points late, but by that time, the Chieftains had taken full command of the game, and the Wildcats were just trying to keep the game respectable.

Figini was the long bright spot for the 'Cats as he scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Ramberg was the only other Wildcat to make more than one field goal, going three-of-eight.

Cloquet 55, Chisago Lakes 49

The Wildcats offensive struggles continued when they traveled north to take on the Cloquet Lumberjacks, one of the new section opponents for the 'Cats this year.

Chisago Lakes was able to keep this one close throughout the first half, as they went into the break down by only one at 21-20. They were able to limit the turnovers that haunted them in their loss to Osceola, and they limited Cloquet's 6'10" post Chad Calcaterra to only eight first half points.

Despite giving up plenty of size to Calcaterra, Figini was a beast on the offensive end in the first half for the Wildcats. The junior scored 15 of the Wildcats' 20 first-half points and single-handedly kept them in the game as the rest of the offense attempted to get in sync.

The teams still remained close in the second half, as the 'Figini and Calcaterra Show' continued. Cloquet's big man put up 14 points in the second stanza while Figini put up 12 more points, six of them on two big three points.

Hickcox, Eli Trochman and Ramberg also hit some big shots in the second half, and Joe Fernstrom chipped in two baskets.

It wasn't enough, though, as Calcaterra got enough help from guard Peter LaCourse, Andy Wappes and RaRa Jones, all of whom score eight or more points on the game.

Cloquet put enough distance in between the two teams to win by six at 55-49.

Figini had another big game, his first double-double of the year, with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Hickcox had a solid game, scoring eight points, dishing out seven assists and grabbing four rebounds.

Other than those two, however, the rest of the team combined for 14 total points on five-of-22 shooting from the field.

Hibbing 56, Chisago Lakes 52

The Wildcats put together a magnificent second half against the Bluejackets, but the bad news was that it came on the tail end of a horrid first half.

Behind Hickcox's seven points and Figini's six points, the Wildcats were only able to put 20 points on the board in the first half. That wouldn't be a bad thing, as that's all they put up against Cloquet, except they didn't play very good defense, and they surrendered 37 points to Hibbing.

Turnovers started to become a problem again, as they committed 16 of them on the game after limiting their total to 11 the game before.

After baskets just wouldn't fall for Figini and the rest of the team in the first half, they started to heat up throughout the second half.

Fernstrom netted his only six points of the game in the second half, same with Eichten and his seven points.

After scoring only six points in the opening half, Figini still struggled a bit in the second half, as Hibbing keyed on him. He netted eight more points in the second half, but it just wasn't enough. After leading the 'Cats in scoring in the first half, Hickcox didn't score another point the rest of the way, and that hurt Chisago Lakes.

Even with their struggles, the Wildcats were still in the game at the end, but their furious comeback fell four points short, and they dropped their third straight contest, 56-52.

Figini led the team with 14 points and eight rebounds, but he had an off-night, as he shot five-of-13 from the field, and was zero-for-five from the three point line.

Fernstrom had 10 points, and Eichten and Hickcox added seven points each.

The Wildcats finish out their non-conference schedule before the New Year, playing Andover, Duluth Central, Mound Westonka and then hosting a four-team tournament that includes Esko, St. Paul Highland Park and North St. Paul.

With the new year will be new challenges, as the 'Cats open their North Suburban Conference schedule against fourth-ranked Columbia Heights on Friday, Jan. 8

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