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Chisago Lakes 74, Prescott (WI) 50

The Wildcats started out the four-team South St. Paul Packer Classic Tournament with a big win over the out-state Cardinals of Prescott.

The game was a tale of two halves for Chisago Lakes. In the opening frame, the Wildcats were cruising on offense, getting points from the usual suspects, Whitney Tinjum and Kelsey Ristow, on plenty of transition baskets that had the Cardinals scrambling all over the SSP court.

However, the game remained close because of the Prescott's penetrating point guard. "We were having some problems with her," Head Coach Craig Walker explained. "She was pretty quick and continued to get to the hoop despite our attempts to stop her."

They were also getting baskets when she would kick the ball out to their open shooting guard after her deep drives down the lane.

Outside of their transition offense, the Wildcats weren't doing much in the half court either, and it really kept the Cardinals in it, as Chisago Lakes only led by two at halftime at 32-30.

However, in the second half, the Wildcat offense turned it up a few notches. "We made a few adjustments at halftime, reminding the girls of their offensive and defensive responsibilities, and we took over from there."

In the second half, the Wildcats out-scored the Cardinals 42-20, and they cruised to a 24-point win in the opening round.

Tinjum led all scorers with 25, and she also added eight rebounds. Ristow added 14 points to go along with five steals, four rebounds and three blocks. Zoe Hansen had 10 points and seven rebounds in the winning effort.

Chisago Lakes 60, South St. Paul 39

After their blowout win over the Cardinals, Chisago Lakes took on host South St. Paul. The Packers earned their way into the championship with a 59-44 victory over Mahtomedi in the opening round.

It had the makings of an evenly-matched slugfest, but Chisago Lakes quickly landed the biggest punch of the game, and the Packers never recovered.

The Wildcats steadily built a 12-point lead by halftime, and they kept on building that all through the second half. The outcome was never in much doubt as Chisago Lakes cruised to a 60-39 victory over South St. Paul.

The tournament victory was the first holiday tourney win for the Wildcats since 2002.

The 'Cats got another huge effort from Tinjum, as she scored 26 points and had eight rebounds and four steals. Junior post Kasie Shoberg added 11 points on the night, and Ristow had nine points and six rebounds.

Tinjum and Ristow were named to the all-tournament team. "It's great for the girls to see early rewards for their hard work in the off-season and to get on a roll like this even though we still have work to do," Walker explained. "Opponents will get more difficult once the season resumes after our break."

"We'll need to improve on some things if we want this roll to continue (six straight wins since beginning 0-2)," Walker said. "It's great to win the tournament and beat some well coached teams, but we need to focus on improvement so we can compete with the tough teams in the North Suburban that we have coming up."

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