'Cats give Rapids a run, dominate Hibbing

Just another sign that this year is a bit different, Chisago Lakes took on two section opponents that they played last year, and the results couldn’t have been more different. In CL’s first game of the weekend, they took on the 10th-ranked Grand Rapids Thunderhawks and gave them all they could handle in a 53-49 loss. In the section semi-finals last year, Grand Rapids beat Chisago Lakes by nearly 40 points. In the second leg of their northern voyage, the Wildcats beat Hibbing 72-46, almost a year to the day after losing to them 69-57 last season. In Chisago Lakes’ loss to Grand Rapids, they dug themselves an early hole against the Thunderhawks, going down by six points at halftime, before trying to chip away in the second half. They got it down to the wire with their tireless defense, but couldn’t finish off the comeback, falling 53-49. The ‘Cats had a tough night shooting, going seven-of-21 from beyond the three point arc and 16-of-42 total on the night. Vinnie Gorski led the ‘Cats with 12 points, but he only shot three-of-10 from the field, including two-of-six from three land. Quinton Lee and Mitch Berg each added nine points for the Wildcats as they got balance scoring, but they just couldn’t get enough of it in the hard-fought contest. Grand Rapids, who was ranked 10th in Class AAA coming into the game and was the state entrant from Section 7AAA last year, moved to 4-2 on the year. Against Hibbing, the Wildcats jumped all over the Bluejackets from the get go. Chisago built an 18 point lead at halftime at 36-18, and then kept the pressure on in the second half, adding eight more points to their lead and winning 72-46.