Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

Before the boys basketball season even began, head coach Dan Cremisino had two concerns about his team: foul trouble and health. When Champlin Park played at Forest Lake on Thursday, Dec. 7, both of those issues appeared early on and contributed to the Rangers nearly losing the game.

Forest Lake came out with a flurry to open the night, with senior Matt Hansmann scoring immediately on a lay-up, and then coming back soon afterward with a steal and an emphatic dunk. The ensuing pull-up on the rim, however, resulted in a technical, which also counts as a personal foul. So within the first 10 minutes of the game, Hansmann sat on the bench with two personal fouls, as did fellow senior starters Drew Cremisino and Josh Williams, who had picked up two quick fouls of their own. With junior guard Ryan Brown sitting out with a tweaked ankle, coach Cremisino was suddenly dealing with concerns 1 and 1A.

As the first half wore on, the Forest Lake offense was out of sync, and Champlin Park followed the lead of senior Pat Freeman. On his way to a game-high 22 points, Freeman and the Rebels were up by 12 points at intermission.

Forest Lake headed to the locker room and heard a similar talk as the one they had during the season-opening win against Como Park. Coach Cremisino thought that if his boys would move the basketball around, take good shots and play smart, the rest would take care of itself.

ìIf we can do that, weíll close the gap and weíll get back in it,î he said following the 56-49 victory.

Behind Drew Cremisinoís 13 second-half points as well the steady play of senior big man Aaron Jacobs, the Rangersí chipped away at the lead until approximately three minutes remained in the game. Thatís when Drew Cremisino buried a huge three-pointer to give Forest Lake a lead that they would not give up this time.

ìIt was a nice win for us considering we had to really struggle (in) the first half,î coach Cremisino said. ìIt was just one of those things where you really felt like the boys on the team just said, ëYou know, weíre not going to lose.íî

With only two games gone, Forest Lake will plunge into the fun part of its schedule. After a short trip to Centennial on Tuesday, Dec. 12, the Rangers will host the highly regarded Cretin-Derham Hall this Friday. The tip-off for Fan Appreciation Night is at 7:30 p.m.

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