Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

The Woodbury Royals girls basketball team came up to Forest Lake on Thursday, Jan. 4, with an 8-2 record and a No. 9 ranking in the metro area. Forest Lake may be stuck at the bottom of the Suburban East Conference, but when the game began, there was little difference between the two teams.

Each squad came out playing aggressively, which resulted in both offenses having to really work for a quality shot. Neither team made a three-point basket throughout the game, which shows how patient the Royals and the Rangers were in waiting for an opportunity to score down low. But with the defensive pressure turned up, turnovers also factored into the low-scoring first half; Forest Lake would end the game with a total of 27.

The opening 18 minutes had Woodbury clinging to a small lead, but by the midway point, the Rangers seemed to have solved the Royals' half-court defense and started getting easy looks for Andrea Thompson and Sarah Lindenberg.

The second half was a slightly different story, though, as a 17-14 Woodbury advantage, grew into the 43-29 final score.

Head coach Jen Wagner wasn't surprised to see her girls stay with the Royals, but the end result was discouraging. Wagner not only believes her team can compete with the top programs, but the Rangers should also come away with victories.

"It was a disappointing loss, obviously," Wagner said. "If you would have asked me [before the season] if we would be 3-9 right now I would have said, ëNo way.'"

The Royals' Sarah Hintz was a steady presence during the course of the game and ended the night with 15 points. Matching Hintz's total for Forest Lake was Thompson, who also picked up three steals.

Following Thompson in scoring for the Rangers was a trio of seniors -- Alisha Johnson, Janelle Winiecki and Lindenberg -- who all had four points apiece.

The loss put Forest Lake at 3-9 overall and 0-5 in the SEC.

On Tuesday, the girls entertained Hastings, and after being down by 16 points, Forest Lake fought back for a 56-50 win. With their first conference victory now behind them, the team travels to White Bear Lake on Friday.

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