Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

Welcome to the Dan Cremisino era of the Forest Lake boys basketball team. The first-year head coach moves up from an assistantís role under Chuck Gunderson, and he takes over a squad that seemingly has it all. In a preseason media packet, Cremisino stated: ìThis is a team with experience, athletic ability, size, strength, speed and smarts.î

When he looks at the Rangersí experience, Cremisino can see seven of the top eight players from last season coming back, and six of those are two-year veterans. Besides the loss of Nate Robertson from the 2005-2006 roster, the rest of the starters remain in tact.

As far as athletic ability goes, itís hard to know where to begin. Matt Hansmann comes off another fall of being named all-conference in football, and once again he can apply some of those skills to the basketball court. It never hurts to have a 6í3î player on the wing who can lock down the oppositionís top scorer, create a turnover and have no fear of being caught as he goes in for a dunk.

Josh Williams, the 6í5î forward, also returns, and with him he brings a legitimate 3-point threat, quickness, and the chance to finish his career as a top 10 scorer in Ranger history.

Ryan Brown saw some time as a starter last year and he is another team member who possesses speed and quickness. The junior guard is a great jump shooter who also has more shakes than Dairy Queen which allows him to score off the dribble.

When it comes to size, it all starts with senior Aaron Jacobs. The rÈsumÈ is long for the 6í6î post player who can shoot, rebound and block shots so well that heíll end this season near the top of numerous Forest Lake records.

ìWe should have the best post player in the conference with Aaron,î Cremisino says.

The Rangersí can also draw from a deep bench where the 6í4î Ben Gort brings his work ethic to guard bigger players, fellow senior Cory Kuefler can also defend the post, and junior Mike Person stands 6í3î and has a variety of skills to offer the team.

Quarterbacking the group from the point guard position is Drew Cremisino.

ìHeíll be one of the stronger point guards in the state,î coach Cremisino says of the 6í1î 200 pound senior. ìI donít think anybodyís going to be stronger than him.î

Drew Cremisino is already a two-year starter who does not make many mistakes, is extremely fast with the ball and is on track to set a new assist record at Forest Lake.

Throw in senior Robert Gavanda, juniors Brandon Phelps and Brad Kopp, and coach Cremisino has enough talent to compete with the best programs in the state.

ìWe can play with anybody if we play well,î coach Cremisino says. ìIíd like to win 20 games.î

The focus for the boys this season will be the Anoka Tournament in late December, winning the conference championship and winning the section.

ìOf those three, the one weíre most pointing to is the section,î coach Cremisino says. ìThese guys want to go to state, and somehow weíd like to get ourselves in position to do that.î

The key to ìsomehowî is navigating a schedule that never lets up.

ìI think Cretin (Derham Hall), is the team to go after,î coach Cremisino says. The Raiders have four starters returning to the reigning Suburban East Conference champs.

Mounds View is a long, tall team, and Woodbury has arguably the best player in the SEC in senior Max Hintz.

Get through there and the section has Johnson High School as well as another round with tough conference foes in Mounds View, Stillwater and White Bear Lake.

ìIf we shoot well weíre going to be really tough to beat,î coach Cremisino says. ìI learned a lot about the league the last two years. It was a really good learning experience for me. It taught me what to expect at the high school level, what the coaches were like, the schedule, everything how to run a program.î

And so begins a new era.

OPENING WEEKEND

Dan Cremisino is undefeated as the boys varsity basketball coach. Granted, his record is 1-0, but that first victory came against Dan Brink of Como Park of St. Paul, who has 258 career wins burning a hole in his pocket, which makes him the winningest coach in St. Paul City Conference history.

ìIt turned out all right,î Cremisino said of the 59-48 score. ìItís about as good as I could have hoped for.î

The ìall rightî part took place in the first half, where any sign of Forest Lake momentum was reeled in by the Como Park Cougars, or a hasty Ranger offense that looked a little discombobulated when senior Aaron Jacobs went to the bench early with foul trouble.

ìWe shot way too many threes, and we shot way too quickly on offense,î Cremisino said.

Ben Gort did a nice job filling in for Jacobs, while junior sharpshooter Brad Kopp set the tone for the offense, collecting 10 of this 12 points in the opening 18 minutes.

With a 27-25 lead at the half the Rangers came out after intermission and suddenly looked like a calm and composed unit. The defense created turnovers, the offense settled into a steady rhythm, and every player Cremisino put on the floor started to warm up.

ìWe ran the offense better,î Josh Williams said. ìWe quit rushing everything so once we actually found our groove we took off.î

Jacobs found his groove and picked up where Kopp left off. The 6í6î senior was too much for the Cougars to handle as he dropped in 12 of his 14 points in the second half.

ìWe didnít rush it as much,î Jacobs said about the offense. ìI thought we passed a little more and it wasnít as quickly paced.î

Unlike the harried first half where Forest Lakeís shooting percentage was hanging out in the 30 percent range, the efficient and slower O resulted in the team shooting 60 percent in the second, and 46 percent overall.

Cremisino was pleased to see only a handful of three-pointers being hoisted, in which the team made two of them.

With the added pressure and easier buckets, Forest Lake built a lead that grew to 17 late in the game, only to see it shrink to the 11 point differential at the buzzer. Como Park pressured the ball and the Rangers had some difficulty managing the situation.

This is where Drew Cremisino will be counted on as the two-year starter returns from a preseason injury where he ate an elbow sandwich during tryouts that required surgery. With the veteran point guard in charge, coach Cremisino expects his squad to handle a frenetic defense better than the waning moments of Saturdayís game.

The next challenge for coach Cremisino and his crew is a home game against Champlin Park on Thursday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m.

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Forest Lake Times
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Forest Lake, MN 55025
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