March 10, 2023 at 1:01 p.m.
'Cats on a win streak heading into sections; Vikings draw a two seed
After their big upset of Princeton on Friday, February 24, the Tigers’ first home loss in over four years, the Wildcats kept their good vibes rolling with two home non-conference wins to end their regular season.
They dominated in a pair of 20-plus point wins over St. Croix Prep on Tuesday, February 28 and St. Paul Academy on Thursday, March 2.
Against Prep, it was a commanding win from start to finish as CL won 83-60 behind Patrick Rowe’s 32 points. The junior also added six boards and five assists. Ian and Owen Larsen each chipped in 12 points as well, with Owen adding nine rebounds and Ian adding eight as the ‘Cats had 40 total team rebounds. Ben Paulsen also scored 10 points for CL in the winning effort.
It was a very similar score and story against SP Academy, as Rowe led the charge with a near triple double with 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists as CL won 85-60.
Owen Larsen added 19 points and six rebounds, Jack Walker hit three three pointers and had 11 points and three steals and Ian Larsen had 10 points and five rebounds. The ‘Cats hit the boards even harder against the Spartans, gathering 50 rebounds on the night.
The wins moved CL to 11-15 on the year and they drew the sixth seed in Section 5AAA and took on third-seeded Big Lake in the opening round on Tuesday, March 7.
Big Lake edged Chisago Lakes in two high-scoring affairs earlier this year, including an 83-80 win in January and a 95-84 victory in mid-February.
NORTH BRANCH BOYS BASKETBALL
Although they had a better record than CL at 14-12, the Vikings play in a smaller and a bit easier section in 7AAA, so they drew the second seed and a first round bye after finishing their regular season with a 20 point loss to Cambridge-Isanti.
In that contest, Brody Beaver had 20 points and seven boards for NB, while Mason Young added 12 and both Carson Klein and Tyler Minke had 10 each.
The Vikings’ bye means they’ll await the winner of the Duluth Denfeld-Hibbing match up on Wednesday, March 8. The Hunters are favored over the Bluejackets, as Denfeld is the third seed and beat Hibbing by 22 points in their match up earlier this season.
If Denfeld moves on, NB will host them on Friday, March 10 at 7 p.m. The Vikings beat the Hunters 80-75 early in the season. The winner of that game would move on to the section championship match up where top-seeded Hermantown will likely be waiting.
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