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Chisago Lakes 70, St. Paul Highland Park 54

The Wildcats backed up their 2-1 start with a 70-54 thumping of St. Paul Highland Park last week.

They were also supposed to take on Forest Lake on Saturday, but the massive whiteout that swept across Minnesota postponed that game.

Against the Scots, the 'Cats got off to a slow start, only really making good on free throws. "We had difficulty early keeping them off the boards," Head Coach Craig Walker said. "Given our height, we should dominate the glass. But at this early stage we haven't been playing with the determination needed to get those defensive rebounds and limit the opponent to one shot."

Those struggles led to a lot of free throw attempts for Highland Park, also.

Despite their inability to rebound, the Chisago Lakes' bigs weren't been affected on the offensive end once they got going. By halftime, junior Whitney Tinjum had 18 points and sophomore Bryanna Fernstrom was also in double digits with 10 points. The duos offensive prowess raced the 'Cats to a 37-33 lead at halftime.

"We knew their goal was to get to the basket in transition and that they sometimes struggle shooting from the field," Walker explained at the break. "We made some defensive adjustments at half time and outscored the Scots 11-6 to open up the half."

That mini run gave the Wildcats all the breathing room they needed, as Highland Park wasn't able to threaten much once the lead got to double digits.

The Scots' shooting deficiencies also aided the 'Cats. Chisago Lakes shot 55 percent in the second half while Highland Park only shot six-of-28, less than 25 percent.

Even with the shooting problems on Highland Park's end, they were able to keep it reasonably close with their free throws. "Both teams put a lot of pressure on a defense by driving to the basket," Walker said. "We committed 22 fouls, allowing the Scots to shoot 27 free throws, but they only made 15 of them."

But, on the plus side, Highland Park had an even more difficult time containing the Wildcat offense, as CL attempted 39 free throw shots on the night and made a team-record 30 of them. That charge was led by Tinjum, who went a near-perfect 15-of-16 from the charity stripe. Tinjum's 15 makes were also a school record for the Wildcats.

"We are beginning to improve our patience on offense and Bryanna Fernstrom has been doing a great job in the post," Walker opined after the contest. "We are sharing the basketball more than we have in our first two games and that's great. But, we will have to be even more disciplined against Benilde-St. Margaret's, St. Louis Park and Grand Rapids in our upcoming games.

The Wildcats took on BSM earlier this week, as the top-ranked Red Knights traveled to Chisago Lakes for a heated North Suburban Conference showdown. Whoever came out on top of that game will be in the catbird seat for the top spot in the NSC.

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