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Playoff basketball at all levels typically means a bit more physical game with a few less whistles and a better flow.

But, that wasn’t the case when Chisago Lakes took on second seeded Mankato East on Wednesday, March 20 at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus. The Cougars raced out to a 40-15 lead at halftime once the foul damage was done, and the Wildcats were never very competitive in the second half, eventually falling 80-41.

Wildcat star Patrick Rowe was whistled for three offensive fouls in the first eight minutes of the game and rim protector Ian Larsen picked up two of his own in the first four and a half minutes, and whatever gameplan the Wildcats had on both offense and defense was quickly out the window against a very good Mankato East squad.

Rowe, who averaged over 31 points per game in the regular season, had to sit for long stretches in the first half because of the foul trouble and never gathered any rhythm. He ended the half scoreless for the first time this year, and scored just six points in the game on 16 shots with seven rebounds, five assists and nine turnovers. His lowest output of the year prior to this game was 21.

The first foul on Rowe was a charge that looked like the correct call, but the next two calls were very light, with the third one being an egregiously bad call as Rowe fought through a screen.

Larsen, who averaged a double-double this season at 11 points and 10 rebounds, had just four points and four rebounds as he had to play carefully after the quick whistles. He was caught leaning into the defender a bit on both of his early foul calls.

Zander Schmidt, the other key cog on the Chisago Lakes’ offense, struggled a bit with the enhanced defensive focus with Rowe on the bench. The senior sniper shot just four-of-14, scoring 10 points.

Rugged senior Ben Paulsen had a nice game with the increased offensive role, scoring 10 points on four-of-seven shooting and grabbing nine boards for the ‘Cats.

East, though, had five players in double figures, led by Brogan Madson’s 15, and with CL’s most important offensive and defensive contributors playing tentatively, the game just tilted in favor of the Cougars and never went back.

Minneapolis South 77, Chisago Lakes 73

The ‘Cats played a much better game in the first round of the consolation bracket against Minneapolis South, who had narrowly lost to third-seeded Alexandria in the quarterfinals. The game was played at Concordia-St. Paul on Thursday, March 21.

The Tigers got out to an early lead, although Chisago Lakes kept it close for the first eight minutes, trailing 19-16. But, a 20-6 run by South over the next five minutes all of a sudden turned the game into a potential blowout at 39-22 in favor of the Tigers.

The Wildcats, a senior-laden team, certainly didn’t want to end their careers like that, so they fought back. A Paulsen lay up trimmed the lead to 15. Then Schmidt nailed a three pointer on the fast break to get the South lead to 12. A Larsen lay up moved the deficit to an even 10. Rowe made a pretty turnaround jump shot to get within single digits and then another fast break Schmidt three pointer capped a 12-0 run that got CL to within five at 39-34. 

The two squads traded baskets for the rest of the half, with the ‘Cats down just 42-38 at the break after the 16-3 run over the last six minutes of the half.

Chisago Lakes took their first lead of the game at 51-49 with 14 minutes left in the game, but a quick 9-0 run by the Tigers put them back in the hole.

South continued to stretch their lead in the middle part of the second half, topping it out at 67-55 with just six minutes left in the game, but the Wildcats again had some fight in them. They trimmed the lead back down to single digits and with the last gasp even got it to one possession with 13 seconds left after a three pointer from Rowe.

But, South broke CL’s press on the ensuing inbounds play and got a layup with three seconds left for the final tally of 77-73.

Rowe ended the game with 26 points and eight boards, Schmidt had 20 points, Larsen had nine points and 15 rebounds and Luke O’Malley had 10 points on perfect four-of-four shooting.

The game marked the end of a prolific batch of seniors’ careers. Rowe, Schmidt, Larsen and Paulsen combined to score 68 points per game and grab 29 rebounds per game throughout the year and they will be tough to replace.

“Our seniors have come a long way in three years.  As sophomores, they may have had some varsity-level skills, but we were physically outmatched by almost every team we played that season.  All of them have committed themselves to the weight room year-round, and have turned one of our weaknesses into a strength,” Head Coach Mike Holmquist said of his seniors. “The other major transformation has been their pride in playing defense.  Our biggest runs are always initiated by "strings" (three stops in a row) that our bench and coaches track in-game and emphasize in film.  Our seniors have demanded more of themselves and their teammates on the defensive end, and that has been a major factor in our jump from worst-to-first. The seniors will be greatly missed for their contributions on and off the court.”

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