Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

The good times on the Ranger victory bandwagon came to an end on Friday, March 9, when the girls basketball team lost to Roseville, 56-49, in the Section 4AAAA championship game.

It will be the Raiders who go on to state, while members of the Forest Lake team shift their focus to spring sports or Spring Break.

This was the third time these two schools have met this season, with Roseville (15-13) winning on the road, 45-44, in mid-December, and then the Rangers getting the 61-59 victory at Roseville in January.

On Friday night at Concordia University in St. Paul, there might have been too much experience for the Raiders — as they will compete in the state tournament for the third consecutive year — and not enough time for Forest Lake.

Roseville controlled the first half, but a spurt by the Rangers knocked the large deficit to just single digits going into halftime.

After intermission, though, the Raiders would go up by as much as 19 points before Forest Lake would make a comeback that would fall eight points shy of a win.

“The fact that they continued to fight and continue to do things in order to remain in the game — become competitive — was pretty impressive,” head coach Jen Wagner said about her team.

“Honestly it just felt like time kind of ran out on us.”

Picking up big numbers was sophomore Gina Lange, who came on strong after the half and finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.

Senior Andrea Thompson ended her career with 11 points and six boards, while junior Abi Iverson collected nine points, three rebounds and two assists. Anne Berner, another tall and talented sophomore, had seven points, three rebounds and two blocks.

It took the entire regular season, plus two section games, for the Rangers to arrive at the championship game, but just a bit shorter than that for the girls to understand how good they really are.

Wagner said her team was disappointed with the outcome, so she tried to put their season into perspective.

“I told them, ‘You guys have got to see the bigger picture here. You made it to the section final game. So you’re one of the top 16 teams in the state.’ I mean that’s a great achievement.”

Semifinal win

Six days after sending North High School packing for the off-season, the Rangers controlled the entire game against top-seeded White Bear Lake, and held on for a 49-47 victory on Tuesday, March 6 at Concordia.

From the opening tip, Forest Lake was more prepared, more aggressive and even more confident. The girls built leads of 10-2 and 23-12 before settling in with a 27-19 halftime advantage.

At the start of the second half, White Bear had its swagger back and applied offensive and defensive pressure on the Rangers, but every time the Bears made a dent in Forest Lake’s lead, a different member of the Rangers would step in and step up. As White Bear chipped away, Thompson, Berner or Lange would knock down a key basket.

With the help of Alisha Johnson, Iverson and Danielle Boldenow, the oppressive defense of Kelsey Kosman was able to contain the Bears’ Tanya Dickey. Dickey still scored 16 points, but she never took over the game like she did in February.

Late in the contest, with White Bear making a final run at Forest Lake, it was Dickey’s two free throws that made the score 48-47 with eight seconds left to play. But after Thompson answered with one from the line, White Bear’s scramble and unsuccessful heave at the buzzer would end the game.

Thompson and Lange would finish the night with 14 points a piece, as Kosman contributed nine and Berner dropped in eight points. Iverson ended the game with just one point, and Johnson went scoreless, but their ball-handling and passing were crucial in breaking White Bear’s press.

Wagner was already dreading having to say good-bye to her seniors, but with a solid junior class, experienced sophomores and a bunch of what she calls “gym rats” in 9th grade, Wagner likes what she sees for the coming years.

“Kind of a nice looking future for Forest Lake basketball, that’s for sure.”

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