Posted: 12/4/02

Rangers beat Andover in opener 60-51

Berk Brown
Sports Editor

With the game on the line against Andover, Forest Lake leaned on its success from the free-throw line to secure victory.

Forest Lake, 1-0, got 11 of its final 13 points from the stripe in pulling away from the Huskies and taking a 60-51 victory over Andover on Tuesday, Nov. 26.

ìItís a credit to the kidsî first-year coach Jack Bender said.

Andover, 1-1, used a height advantage and an aggressive, trapping, pressing defense to keep the game tight, as the Rangers held a 42-38 lead entering the fourth quarter.

A basket by Brianna McMahon increased Forest Lakeís lead to 47-40 with 5:18 to play before Andover made a final run at the Rangers.

A pair of free throws by the Huskiesí Danaqa Storm-Reff pulled Andover within 47-42 and when Mari Korton converted on a three-point play, Forest Lakeís lead was down to 47-45 with 4:43 left in the game.

Forest Lake got its next six points from the free throw line as Lindsey Anderson, Mary Sobiech and Jenny Kling each hit two.

Klingís second free throw put the Rangers ahead 53-47 with 1:08 remaining.

Andoverís Ashley Dillon missed a shot with :35 left and Anderson was fouled and converted both free throws for the Rangers with :29 left to increase the lead to 55-47.

Anderson again hit a pair of free throws with :17 left to keep Forest Lakeís lead at eight ñ 57-49.
Andoverís Val Livingston made a basket with :11 left to make it 57-51, but the Rangers finished off the Huskies with a Kling free throw and a basket by Christie Brink as time expired to give Forest Lake the 60-51 win.

In the final four minutes of the game, Forest Lake went 11 of 16 (68.7 percent) from the free-throw line to secure the season-opening win. Anderson was 6 of 6 in that stretch for the Rangers.

Aside from their free-throw success, Bender said he was relatively pleased with the way the Rangers responded to the defensive pressure put on them by the Huskies, especially in the final 16 minutes.

ìI really thought in the second half we needed to take care of the basketball more,î Bender said. ìI was really pleased with the way the kids responded. They were able to understand the flow of what was going on in the game and for the most part made pretty good decisions.î

Anderson finished the game with a team-high 20 points for the Rangers while Sobiech added 14 and Renee Frericks had 13.

Andover 8 21 9 13 - 51
FL 10 22 10 18 - 60
Forest Lake - Frericks 13; Brink 2; Kling 5; Sobiech 14; McMahon 4; Anderson 20; Wintheiser 2.

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