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St. Louis Park 79, Chisago Lakes 49

Trying to do anything to shake the funk they are in, the Chisago Lakes boys basketball team just couldn't get it done against the St. Louis Park Orioles in a North Suburban Conference game.

Coming into the game, the 'Cats record wasn't that far off of the Orioles. Chisago Lakes was 5-13 and the Orioles were 9-10. It looked like an even further gap, though, by the time the game was done.

Despite a huge game by Benji Figini, the Wildcats just couldn't keep up with the high-scoring SLP attack.

The problem was a similar one that the 'Cats usually have. Figini got his, but nobody else on the game could consistently score, and CL went down without much of a roar.

Figini netted 19 points in the first half to keep the game as close as it was even, but 10 first half points from Alex Koch and Marquealis Edwards cancelled out Figini's offensive effort, and other Orioles were able to knock down their open shots.

Bryan Eichten and Jordan Hickcox were the only other Wildcats to score in the first half. Eichten had four points and Hickcox had three.

By halftime, St. Louis Park had already built an 18-point lead at 44-26.

The second half was much of the same. Although they started limiting Figini a little bit, Joe Fernstrom picked up that slack, scoring eight second half points.

Figini still scored 12 points, and again the only other two scorers besides Fernstrom and Figini were Hickcox and Eichten. Eichten scored six points on two three-pointers and Hickcox had two more.

Even with St. Louis Park bringing in subs, the Wildcats failed to make much of a dent in the lead, and they fell to 2-8 in the conference and 5-14 overall.

On the game, Figini had 31 points and eight rebounds, but his one man show wasn't enough to beat the much more balanced Orioles. Eichten added 10 points and Fernstrom had eight.

The Orioles had seven players score over six points and that included three that scored over 12.

The loss also stretched the 'Cats losing streak to five, which matches their season worst stretch from earlier in the season.

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