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Chisago Lakes 55, North Branch 45

The Vikings raced to a 15-3 lead against arch rival Chisago Lakes Tuesday, January 20 in the North Branch High School gym. However, for the rest of the game, the NB offense stalled and the Viking defense couldn't stop Wildcat star Josh Figini, who led his team to a 55-45 North Suburban Conference win.

The North Branch defense set the tone for the first quarter of the game. Viking pressure led to a series of Chisago turnovers, including the one that led to the game's first points. After a steal, Ryan Norman found backcourt mate Kyle Grote alone outside the arc. Grote buried a three that gave the Vikes a lead they kept until 12:48 remained in the contest.

Two minutes into the game, Figini made his presence felt when he came flying out of the lane to block a 23-foot Mike Dahl attempt. Meanwhile, the Viking pressure continued to pay dividends. CL was kept off the board until 14:40 remained, when senior guard Quinn Collins scored the Wildcat's initial points. Grote hit another three and Wildcat Benj Figini added a freethrow. Six minutes in, the score stood at 6-3 in NB's favor.

The Viking offense was most effective during the next three minutes. Senior center Aaron Good started a 9-0 Viking run by scoring twice in a 25-second span. Then the Vikings picked up a quick three points from the charity stripe. Ryan Norman went two-for-two and Mike Dahl hit the first of two. Following a two-minute lull, junior Sean Franks banked one in from the paint. The outburst gave the home team a 15-3 margin midway through the half.

The 'Cats began to crawl back after the Vikings were whistled for a pair of personals four seconds apart. The first, Grote's second, sent the junior guard to the bench for the remainder of the half and seemed to slow the NB offense. The tide turned when J. Figini scored his first field goal and hit the first two of his 12 made freethrows in short succession. With 8:23 left in the half, the Vikes led 15-7.

At 7:40, Jake Grandahl hit both ends of a one-and-one to get the Vikings back on the board. The Wildcats countered with back-to-back hoops. B.Figini scored from the paint and Cole Johnson picked Norman's pocket and scored, closing the gap to 17-11. North Branch responded as Norman hit one-of-two from the line and junior Kosta Moore hit a three. That left the Vikings with a 21-11 lead with 5:55 on the clock.

Chisago Lakes came racing back by outscoring NB 8-0 in the next two minutes, cutting the Viking lead to 21-19. During the run, Jake Warkel hit a freethrow, J Figini hit two, junior Bryan Eichten dropped a three and Manny Cruceru hit a shot from mid range.

After North Branch head coach Bill Baumann called a timeout, Drew Lundquist, spotted Dahl all alone in the lane. Dahl's layup gave the Vikings a four point advantage. In the final two minutes, J. Figini added two freethrows and a two for CL and Norman hit a three.

At halftime, the home team led 26-23.

"We struggled against their zone and we just didn't bring any energy," Chisago Lakes' Head Coach Herb Jangor said. "We just kept our composure, though. We know in a rival game it won't be easy -- it's always tough. We just had to trust in the system, and it got us back."

Good scored from the inside and Norman drained two freethrows to open the second period scoring and the Viking lead grew to seven. A J. Figini dunk kicked off a 9-2, three-minute run that created the game's first tie. After the jam, Dahl countered with a Viking basket. A Collins jumper, two more J. Figini freethrows and a triple by Mike Sokol completed the Wildcat run. With 12:48 to go, a pair of 32's appeared on the scoreboard.

The host team took it's last lead on a Good putback at 12:40. J. Figini tied it before Chisago took the lead for good with three freethrows, two by J. Figini and one by his sophomore brother. With 10:00 minutes left, the Wildcats were up 37-34.

Franks made a freethrow and Dahl hit from three-point-land to offset two short field goals by CL. At 8:45, the three-point edge remained. Figini scored the next four points and, with four minutes on the clock, the Wildcats were up 45-38.

Deon Farr hit the front end of a one-and-one 15 seconds later and Dahl did the same after he rebounded Farr's miss. That closed the gap to 45-40 with 3:43 to be played. Wildcat senior forward Henry Fitzpatrick scored on a drive before J. Figini came off the baseline to score on his second dunk. The younger Figini drained two freethrows, giving the visitors a 51-40 lead with less than three minutes to go.

The Vikings were never able to cut into the margin. In the final minutes, CL was able to score enough from the charity stripe to maintain a comfortable lead. The Wildcats won this year's first battle of Chisago County. Viking fans look forward to the rematch in Lindstrom next month.

"We took a step back this week," Baumann said. "We jumped out and took an early lead against Chisago Lakes, but didn't put them away when we had the opportunity. Give Chisago Lakes credit. They didn't panic and just kept pecking away and they were able to get into striking distance by the end of the half. We didn't take advantage of the opportunities that were presented."

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Jangor was happy to get another conference win under his belt. "It's always nice to win a rival game, but more than that, it's nice to beat a well-coached team," he said. "Any win in this conference is a big win."

GAME SUMMARY

Chisago Lakes 23 -- 32 -- 55

North Branch 26 -- 19 -- 45

NORTH BRANCH SCORING

Norman 11, Farr 1, Grote 8, Grandahl 2, Moore 3, Dahl 9, Good 8, Franks 3

CHISAGO LAKES SCORING

Johnson 2, Sokol 3, Collins 4, Eichten 3, Cruceru 2, Fitzpatrick 6, J. Figini 24, Warkel 3, B. Figini 8

Editor's note: For other Chisago Lakes and North Branch basketball results from last week, see page 4B.

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