Posted: 2/18/04

Boys basketball goes 1-1 on the week

Joe Drennan
Sports Editor

It was an up and down week for the Forest Lake High School boys basketball team as they won a game and lost a game.

The Rangers beat White Bear Lake 66-57 last Tuesday, but then lost a close 60-57 game Friday night to Park (Cottage Grove).

In Tuesdayís game against White Bear Lake, the Rangers grabbed a narrow 18-13 lead by the end of the first quarter, and went into halftime with a 34-27 lead. The Rangers continued their hard work in the second half and out scored White Bear Lake 16-15 in both the third and fourth quarters to grab the 66-57 victory.

ìI thought we played probably as good of basketball as we have played all year,î Rangers head coach Chuck Gunderson said. ìWe were pretty much ahead, and they would close it up, and we would pull ahead again.î

Leading the Rangers in scoring was Noah Lawson with 22 points, followed by Tom Frericks with 15, and Collin Authier who had 11 points.

ìWhat happening is other teams scouted us earlier in the season and Tommy [Frericks] was our leading scorer and they knew thatís who they had to stop,î Gunderson said. ìIn paying more attention to Tommy, they are leaving someone else open and that is where Noah [Lawson] has stepped up.î

Friday night, the Rangers were trailing Park (Cottage Grove) 24-19 at the half. The Rangers tried battling their way back, but it was too late as the final score had Park up by only three points, 60-57.

ìIt was a close game then they pulled ahead by about 16,î Gunderson said. ìThen we started pressing them both full and half court and we were able to have them turnover the ball and when they were going in for lay-ups we were right there behind them. There were things throughout the whole game that we could have done to change the momentum, but that just didnít happen.î

Gunderson said his teamís recent improvements are because the team worked hard in practice and got back to the basics.

ìWhat we did last week was we went over roles and each personís role on a team,î Gunderson said. ìOne of the things we need out of Noah was to be a scorer on the team and he tried to do that last week and he was pretty successful at it.î

The Rangers next game is Friday as they host Hastings at 7:30 p.m.

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