Chisago Lakes earns redemption in county battle

In the first Chisago County rivalry match up this year, the North Branch boys basketball team came out like a house on fire. They were hitting threes and jumpers like the basket was the size of a hula hoop. They ended up riding their early shooting success in that game to a 59-51 victory.

On Friday, Feb. 8, the two teams squared up again and this time, it seemed, North Branch was shooting at a hoop that was the size of a tennis ball. The two teams capped off the North Branch-Chisago Lakes doubleheader in basketball and the Wildcats were staked to an early lead by a Mitch Berg three pointer and some gritty inside work from Clay Houfer. Their defense stifled North Branch’s stop-and-pop offense and when the jump shots don’t fall for the Vikings, things can go south in a hurry. North Branch was only able to score 13 points in the first half, either turning the ball over too often or missing the shots they were getting.

Even when they did get a shot off, one of Chisago Lakes’ lengthy players would get a hand up. Houfer, Dylan Wood and Vinnie Gorski made sure every shot that went up near the hoop was contested. Chisago Lakes, on the other hand, rode the hot hands of Berg and Houfer. It also helped that they got some strong contributions from Gorski and Will Gillach early in the game -- Gillach was injured and didn’t play in the teams’ first game this year. At halftime, Chisago Lakes had a 27-13 lead and much of the excitement that had been building before and during the early stages of the game from the North Branch home crowd was sqaushed.

“We started the game out very slowly on the offensive end of the floor and couldn't seem to find any consistency running any of our half court offenses,” North Branch Head Coach David Anderson said. “This was due in part to the aggressive defense played by Chisago Lakes and in part to poor execution on our part.” In the second half, a much more aggressive North Branch team came out, but early on Chisago Lakes matched them shot for shot and held a 36-21 lead before the Vikings really started to chip away. A sustained run by North Branch saw Chisago’s lead shrink from 15 points down to four with over six minutes left in the game still.

Cody Knobbe and Travis VansElsberg were the leaders of the run, with VanElsberg launching shots from all angles and ranges with success. But, a big bucket by Houfer, breaking through a double team down low, kept North Branch at bay. The Vikings stayed within a couple of baskets for a few minutes, but eventually Chisago Lakes seized control again and stretched the lead back to 10 points and finished the game off, winning 58-49. “After halftime our guys came out and played much better with the aggression that we knew we would need to play with from the start,”  Anderson said. “However it seemed like every time we would get close, Chisago Lakes would get a big bucket and keep us at arms length. Credit the boys from Chisago, though, they played hard and deserved to win the game.”

VanElsberg led all scorers with 20 points and Knobbe added 15 points in the losing effort for North Branch. Chisago Lakes’ leading scorer was Berg, who netted 15 points. Houfer had 14, while Gorski added nine and Gillach had eight. Jake McKenzie came off the bench to chip in six points for the ‘Cats.