Posted: 1/4/06
Boys basketball team finds its flow in Hastings Tourney
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Joe Drennan
Sports Editor
A first round loss to Andover put the Forest Lake High School boys basketball team in the consolation bracket of the Hastings Holiday tournament and the Rangers made the most of it, winning their last two games.
Andover controlled the ball most of the game against the Rangers, forcing them to take bad shots. The Rangers only shot 31 percent in their 68-52 loss to Andover, while Andover shot 46 percent.
Andover is a good team and they made us take those poor percentage shots,î Rangers head coach Chuck Gunderson said. ìThey opened up and shot well, after that things like rebounding and turnovers were pretty even.î
Corey Kuefler led the Rangers in scoring in the loss with 15 points, while Josh Williams had 10 points and Nate Robertson had eight.
The Rangers bounced back from their loss to Andover to dominate Rosemount in a 72-56 victory.
ìWe came back and did a really nice job against Rosemount and shot around 53 percent,î Gunderson said.
Robertson carried the Rangers with 23 points, while Ryan Brown had 18 points and Drew Cremisino had 11.
The Rangers continued their winning ways in the final game of the tournament with a 68-42 win over North St. Paul. The Rangers shooting percentage was again near 50 percent, allowing them to control the ball better.
ìIt all goes back to running your offense and being patient enough to take open shots and thatís what we were able to do,î Gunderson said. ìWhen we hit our shots, they (the opponent) has to take the ball out of bounds, allowing our defense to set up. We couldnít do that against Andover because we werenít hitting shots.î
Robertson again carried the Rangers with 26 points, followed by Williams who had 14.
The Rangers return to Suburban East Conference play tonight, Thursday, when they travel to Cretin-Derham Hall for a 7:30 p.m. game.
ìWe jump from cookies and cream into a boiling pot this week,î Gunderson said of the Rangers schedule. ìWe have to be consistent in our play, and weíve shown we can do that for two games, now we have to see if we can extend that.î
Forest Lake Times
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