Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

The way this season is looking for the boys basketball team, the schedule should get a lot easier toward the end of March. Since opening 2006-07 with a three-game win streak, the Rangers proceeded to lose four straight, but those were to highly-ranked teams like Cretin-Derham Hall, Tartan and Wayzata.

With a fifth place finish in last week's Anoka Holiday Tournament, Forest Lake is now piecing together a streak of two consecutive wins, with another great team in Woodbury waiting for the Rangers on Friday, Jan. 5. It most certainly is not the end of March.

ANOKA TOURNEY

Forest Lake wrapped up their time in Anoka with a solid performance by defeating Minneapolis South, 50-32, on Friday, Dec. 29.

Unlike in previous games, this time the Rangers grabbed a first half lead and then increased it in the second. A 22-15 advantage at the break became a welcomed 18-point victory, as Forest Lake's main rotation of players settled into a balanced effort.

Junior Brad Kopp was at the top of the list, scoring 12 points, with Aaron Jacobs and Brandon Phelps each adding eight, and Ryan Brown, Matt Hansmann and Josh Williams all scoring seven points apiece.

On the defensive end, holding a team to less than 35 points will typically result in a victory, with South's leading scorer managing just eight on the afternoon. It's even better when you do it to a squad that entered the day averaging 75 points per game.

To reach the consolation final, it took a 78-53 loss to Wayzata on Wednesday night, and then a come-from-ahead win over Champlin Park on Thursday afternoon.

After being dropped early by eventual champion Wayzata in the opening round, the Rangers regrouped for what was already their second meeting with Champlin Park this season.

Forest Lake was in control of this one early and took a nine point lead into halftime, and watched it grow into double figures as the second half wore on. But as the Rebels proved in the first meeting, they are a pesky team who can hit clutch three-pointers when it needs.

In a matter of minutes, the big Ranger lead was whittled down to nothing, with Champlin Park actually going up late in the ballgame.

A time-out by head coach Dan Cremisino got the Forest Lake offense back on track, which then led to multiple lead changes and the great finish.

With the score tied at 47 and 10 seconds left to play, the Rangers turned the ball over, giving Champlin Park a chance at the final shot and the win. The Rebels only problem was that they kicked the ball out of bounds, giving Forest Lake hope they could knock one down and snap the losing streak.

After a time-out, Brown would race up the court, getting all the way into the lane before putting up a beauty of a floater that went in at the buzzer.

"The final play was designed for Brown to go and everyone else to get to a corner," Cremisino shared. "He could either take the shot or kick it to a teammate. He went the length of the floor versus Tartan in four seconds so we thought he could do it again."

The 49-47 win evened the Forest Lake record at 4-4, and they were able to make it 5-4 with the victory over South.

So now it's off to No. 7 Woodbury to play Max Hintz and company, and then another road game on Tuesday against Hastings.

"Woodbury is similar to Wayzata in the way they like to play so we will need everyone to step up to the challenge," Cremisino noted.

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