Chisago Lakes completes four-game county sweep

Chisago Lakes 71, North Branch 53

Vinnie Gorski and Per Gulbranson teamed up to make sure that the Wildcats completed the a sweep of county rival North Branch.
 

The Vikings jumped out to a quick lead behind some hit shooting from Thomas Kinsella, but Chisago Lakes didn’t stay behind for long.

The Wildcats went on a big run to reclaim the lead and start to build a little cushion, but Kinsella kept launching from three point range and they kept hitting the bottom of the net, keeping the Vikings in the game.
 

At halftime, North Branch was down only two points to Chisago Lakes, and it was shaping up to be a barnburner down the stretch.

That’s where Gorski and Gulbranson came in.
 

The pair stuffed the stat lines for Chisago Lakes and allowed the Wildcats to start pulling away down the stretch.

The ‘Cats ended up out-scoring North Branch by 16 points in the second half, and most of that damage was done early.

“We discussed reason why North Branch was still in the game at halftime,” Chisago Lakes Head Coach Herb Jangor said. “They were playing with pride and they played hard, but we had a little run at the beginning of the second half and then we had it won.”
 

“Give Chisago Lakes a lot of credit, they played a very tough game and executed their game plan very well.  It was a hard fought game and they deserved to win it. I thought our guys played well overall and did a very good job rotating against the quick reversals that Chisago likes to use,” North Branch Head Coach David Anderson said after the loss. “We fought hard and were right there in the first half, only down two at halftime.  But again, in the second half we let it start to slip away and couldn't find a way to stop Chisago from getting to the hoop and getting good looks from three-point range.”
 

Gulbranson and Gorski combined for 27 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, four steal and a block.

But, sophomore Mitch Berg also added 10 points and Clay Houfer and Chris Duncan each had nine points. “Chris had a nice effort in the game, and that’s what this system does,” Jangor explained. “It spreads the points around. The cream will always rise to the top, but we need the coffee to stir in the cream.”

Kinsella led the Vikings in the losing effort, scoring 17 points. Cody Knobbe added 10.

SECTION PREVIEW

It looks likely that the two teams will square off again in the section play-in game as the eighth and ninth seeds. There is a few more games for each team, but if things shake out just right, they’ll be playing for their seasons next week against each other.
 

“Our guys are already looking forward to getting another chance at them,” Anderson said.