Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

In just her second year as the girls varsity basketball coach, Jen Wagner is poised to lead a team toward high expectations and big results. She calls her first season a transition year and sounds comfortable with quickly moving past it and focusing on getting the program headed onward and upward.

ìAfter working out this summer and then being able to have all of last season, now weíve really been able to kind of elevate the expectations even higher,î she says. ìRather than starting from ground zero, weíre really starting from a little bit of a higher range just because not everything is new this year.î

In a brief conversation with Wagner, the words ìexcitingî and ìexpectationsî are mentioned frequently. With her large group of returning players, this is understandable. The Rangersí have 14 girls coming back who have varsity and junior varsity experience.

ìWith the kids that we have coming up, [we have] really high expectations this year, Iím pretty excited,î she says. ì[I see] a pretty bright future as far as a win-loss record, and just being able to come out and be successful.î

The list is long for Suburban East Conference contenders, but the Forest Lake line-up should hold its own against strong programs like Cretin-Derham Hall, Roseville, Park of Cottage Grove and Woodbury.

Wagner points out that Cretin is always tough, Roseville has been to the state tournament the last two years, Park can lean on a University of Minnesota recruit in Jackie Voigt, and Woodbury enjoys a great tradition with a coach that goes back many, many years.

But on Wagnerís side, sheíll pull from a roster that possesses all the key ingredients, and a style of play that should keep fanís in the stands and Forest Lake in the game.

Defense comes first, but the Rangers will also push the tempo offensively. ìKind of balance it with an inside-outside game,î Wagner says. ìI was a shooting guard in college so I like to see the 3-ball, but when you have some post players down low you got to take advantage of that.î

As for whoís pushing the tempo and playing down low, it goes a little something like this:

ìAlisha Johnson, sheís our point guard. Sheís going to have a lot of responsibility this year,î Wagner says about the senior captain. ìSheís going to be on the floor the majority of the game, something that I think sheís willing to step into as a role.î

Fellow senior captain Andrea Thompson excels at some of the little things that add up to victories. In 2005-06, Thompson averaged just as many rebounds as she did points, which shows sheís more than willing to work around the basket.

Joining her down low will be sophomore Anne Berner. Wagner says Berner grew a couple of inches over the summer, putting the young center at a legitimate 6í4î.

ìAnytime you get a girl thatís 6í4î, your expectations are going to be high,î Wagner admits.

With pure shooting Janelle Winiecki lighting it up from outside and Kelsey Kosman serving as the defensive stopper, the Rangers have a roster full of players that can thrive together. Beyond them, it always helps to have depth.

ìItís going to be pretty competitive as far as fighting for that seven, eight, nine, 10 spot,î Wagner says. ìItís going to be a good competition, the kids are really going to come out and fight for it.î

Wagner likes what she saw from sophomore Gina Lange and junior Kasey Kolnberger over the summer on a squad that Wagner describes as ìathletic, intelligent, good leadership and good chemistry.î

Forest Lake should reach Wagnerís goals of being .500 in the conference and improving on last seasonís record (10-17, 5-11 in the SEC).

Expect to be excited.

OPENING WEEK

Two out of three ainít bad. The Forest Lake girls basketball team wrapped up its first week of the season with a 2-1 record, with the solitary loss coming on the road to No. 3 ranked Champlin Park, 58-43.

ìIt was a good way to start the season, I guess,î head coach Jen Wagner said. ìObviously, you want to start with a win, but I think it kind of gave us some things to focus on, and it didnít get the kids too over-confident.î

That is some positive thinking going on there, but for good reason. The Rangers were down only three points at halftime, and if Forest Lake could have had their primary ball handler, Alisha Johnson, on the court instead of on the bench with foul trouble, perhaps the end result would have been different.

In the second half, Champlin Park applied some serious defensive pressure, and Wagnerís girls deflated with a total of 26 turnovers in the game.

But back to the plus side was the scrappy play of senior Kelsey Kosman, who held Champlinís ace, Jenny Theisen, to just two field goals. Abi Iverson and Andrea Thompson led the team in scoring with 11 points each.

With the loss out of the way, Forest Lake traveled to Chisago Lakes on Friday night and evened its record with a 70-56 victory. This time is was Gina Lange and Anne Berner contributing with 12 and nine points, respectively, while Thompson went off for 20.

What Wagner really liked was seeing the entire basketball program do so well. The two 9th grade teams won, as did the 10th grade squad and junior varsity, making it a 5-0 night for the Rangers.

The following afternoon, the girls hosted their first home game of the year when North made the drive north to Forest Lake.

Besides some surges by the Rangers, the game started close and stayed that way until the second half, when a balanced Forest Lake offense as well as an aggressive defense allowed the team to pull away just enough for a 56-49 win.

Johnson had 10, Thompson scored 12, Kosman contributed with nine and Iverson also had 10.

ìSheís playing really, really well right now,î Wagner said.

Also making a difference on a very deep roster was junior Kasey Kolnberger who had 6 points, and her play midway through the second half triggered the Forest Lake rally.

After three games, Wagner understands her team has areas where they can improve, but their focus is a ways down the calendar.

ìWeíre working to get better and we talked to the kids about how our goal right now is really not so concerned about where we are right now, but we gotta end up in that section final game.î

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Forest Lake Times
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