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Benilde-St. Margaret's 60, Chisago Lakes 45

The Wildcats were overwhelmed by the Benilde-St. Margaret's offensive attack for most of the night. As if it wasn't tough enough to deal with the talented trio of Grace Coughlin, Josie Dillon and Kadaija Shumpert, things got even harder when those girls couldn't miss a shot to start the game.

The Red Knights raced out to a 21-6 lead early, and their only missed field goal in that whole stretch was a shot that was blocked by CL defender Bryanna Fernstrom.

With a team as talented as Benilde-St. Margaret's on the court, things seemed to be over before halftime for Chisago Lakes, but they went back to what has worked for the past year and a half, a steady dose of Whitney Tinjum and Fernstrom. Tinjum hit a few jumpers as Benilde started to finally miss some shots. Then Fernstrom and Brittney Land started using size to bully their way down low and make a few shots from close in.

Before the first half buzzer sounded, the Wildcats had trimmed the lead to nine at 30-21. But the energy expended just to get back in the game was huge. Chisago Lakes chipped away a bit more in the beginning of the second half, using a few hot shots by Annie Stenson, shrinking the lead to 32-26 at one point.

But, Benilde immediately went on a mini-run to pull back ahead by double digits. Chisago Lakes couldn't muster another run to get back in the game after that. "We played well in stretches against Benilde, but they can come after you in many different ways," Head Coach Craig Walker said. The Wildcat defense was actually able to hold Shumpert to nine points and Dillon to 15, but Coughlin's quickness on offense decimated the 'Cat defense. On a handful of occasions, the sophomore would drive to the basket looking to pass, but the lane was wide open for her to just finish the drive with an easy basket. "She got away from us with 22 points," Walker said of Coughlin. "Her ability to avoid contact on the drive and then finish is something we don't see very often."

The Red Knights, ranked second in the state in Class AAA are on Chisago's schedule again this year, so they'll have a chance for redemption late in the season. "We learned some things tonight offensively and defensively that will help us against them the next time around," Walker noted.

The 'Cats leading scorer on the night was Tinjum, and her 21 points put her over the 2,000 mark for her career. She got the 2,000th point on a free throw late in the game, and it was briefly stopped for her teammates, opponents and coaches to give her some congratulatory hugs and handshakes. Tinjum already held the all-time scoring record at the school, which she broke February of 2011.

Chisago Lakes 76, St. Louis Park 46

The Wildcats rebounded nicely in their second conference game of the season. They took on the Orioles and they played the role of bully early on. "It was the complete opposite of Tuesday night's game against Benilde in a couple of ways," Walker said.

The Wildcats jumped out to a big early lead with their potent inside game and their full court press defense. When they weren't scoring easy baskets off of turnovers, the Wildcats pounded St. Louis Park in the post with Fernstrom, as they had no answer for the 6'4" sophomore.

Chisago led 34-10 midway through the first half and breezed to a 49-21 lead at halftime. The Orioles only made one two-point field goal in the first half alone.

The second half was much of the same and allowed the Wildcats to get their younger players some work. Chisago Lakes ended the game with 17 assists, 15 steals and only nine turnovers. "Those are some pretty good numbers," Walker said. "We continue to play confident basketball as a team and the girls are sharing the ball, finding the open teammate and having fun out on the court."

Tinjum led the offensive onslaught, scoring 23 points, grabbing 13 boards and dishing out four helpers. Fernstrom dominated the lane on offense, scoring 20 points. Zoe Hansen had a double-double for CL, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 boards and Hannah Trandahl scored 11 points, and have five rebounds, five assists and five steals.

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