March 5, 2009 at 8:37 a.m.
March 5, 2009
Wildcats earn season sweep over North Branch with lopsided victory
Behind the Figini brothers combined 22 rebounds, Chisago Lakes clobbered an undersized Vikes squad
Wildcats earn season sweep over North Branch with lopsided victory
As they had at North Branch earlier in the season, the Vikings took an early lead over the rival Wildcats Friday, February 27. And, just like they had in the January game, the Wildcats seized the momentum before halftime and never looked back. When the night was over, Chisago Lakes had overwhelmed the Vikings 64-37.
Because of the raging snow storm from the night before, the game was rescheduled to Friday night.
However, because of the Chisago Lakes Home Show, the game had to be held in the nostalgic Ward Gymnasium in the middle of the high school.
With fans peering down through the wall-length window on the east side of the gym, the Wildcats decimated the Vikings.
North Branch led 17-12 until the Wildcats' board superiority began to take its toll midway through the first half. "We played alright and then they had a 17-2 run to end the half," said Viking head coach Bill Baumann explained. "And then they came out and went on a 19-4 run to start the second half." By then, the visitors were down, and out. They trailed 28-23.
The run was charged by the Figini brothers and a couple of key three pointers by the Wildcats wings.
Josh and Benji Figini hit the offensive boards hard, and the undersized Vikings had no shot at some of the rebounds. With the Vikes' frontcourt consisting of 6'6" Aaron Good and a revolving door of 6'3" players, Benji, who is 6'6" himself, and Josh, who is 6'9", pounded away with putbacks and secon chances. "They just don't have the size to match up with our big kids," Head Coach Herb Jangor said. "We were just able to limit them to one chance each time down."
"We got hammered on the boards. They had 20 second-chance points off of 20 offensive rebounds," Baumann explained. "They had almost as many offensive rebounds as we did total rebounds." That lopsided rebounding advantage resulted in the Wildcats getting 18 more shots than the Vikings. Both Figini brothers ended the game with 11 rebounds each.
When the Vikings did get shots, they converted only 32 percent (14/43) of them. "We missed 10 layups and shot 46 percent from inside and only shot 15 percent (3/19) from beyond the arc with a lot of wide open looks," the Viking mentor commented. "You aren't going to be competitive in, much less win, many games when you shoot like that.
By the time the second half was six minutes old, the game had already been decided. North Branch couldn't shake their cold shooting, and even when Chisago Lakes did miss, there was a Figini skying above everyone else to grab the rebound and keep the play alive.
"We stayed focused throughout the game and played some outstanding defense," Jangor remarked. "Any time they had a small run, we answered right away. We played two quality halves."
The loss was especially damaging to the Vikings because they hadn't played a game since the Friday before. They had a full week to prepare for what the Wildcats would offer.
"We had an excellent week of practice, but when we got into the game we were not doing the same things we had practiced. When we executed what we practiced, we were able to be successful, but we didn't do that on a consistent enough basis. When we don't get any offensive rebounds we have to be almost perfect on our shooting and this puts added pressure on us to make the shots we get. When we don't, we struggle," Baumann concluded.
"It's not too often that one team sweeps the other in this series," Jangor said. "I can only remember a handful of times that I've done it."
GAME SUMMARY
Chisago Lakes 29 35 64
North Branch 19 18 37
NORTH BRANCH SCORING
Lundquist 8, Norman 3, Dahlberg 2, Grote 4, Grandahl 9, Good 6, Farr 3, Huset 2
CHISAGO LAKES SCORING
J. Figini 26, Collins 8, B. Figini 8, Hickcox 6, Warkel 6, Vrudny 3, Keesee 3, Cruceru 2, Fitzpatrick 2
The Vikings have now lost seven games in a row, and their remaining two don't aren't cakewalks. They took on Benilde-St. Margaret's, who is 15-9, last night in their penultimate game, and they close the season tomorrow night, Friday, March 6 against a talented Columbia Heights team that is also 15-9 on the season.
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