Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

If only basketball games had mulligans, then maybe the Rangers boys basketball team would have played Stillwater in the Section 4AAAA championship game, instead of St. Paul Johnson.

In the semifinal matchup against the Governors on Tuesday, March 13, Forest Lake needed a first half do-over as Johnson built a double-digit lead, based largely on Ranger turnovers and forgettable possessions. The Governors would go on to win 62-49 at Concordia University in St. Paul.

“Our game plan was to try to slow the tempo and get in our half-court sets, and we just tried to push it too much and we took stupid shots and quick shots,” Rangers starting guard Drew Cremisino said. “We just got down, and further down and further down, and it was too much I guess.”

It was too much.

Being down 12 at halftime, and then to lose by 13, illustrates how another chance at the opening 18 minutes could have made a difference for Forest Lake, but that is a whopper of a “What if?”.

After scouting Johnson five times during the season, Forest Lake head coach Dan Cremisino felt his team could beat the Governors, but it would take a well-played game to do so. The first item up for bids was Johnson’s pressure defense, which didn’t cause too many problems for the Rangers, but what followed that did contribute to the deficit.

“We came out a little nervous, I thought, and really got hurt by the pace of the game,” coach Cremisino said.

“We did fine with the full court defensive pressure; we did not run very good offense in the front court.”

Forest Lake’s half-court offense looked disjointed, like a group of solo acts trying to connect through passes that lacked the necessary zip. The Rangers would rack up 19 turnovers on the night, and a majority of those came during the opening act.

“The first half we didn’t really come out as strong as we would like,” Ryan Brown said. “It would have been a lot nicer if we could have come out with more energy.”

Energy may have been lacking at the start, but the second half was essentially a whole new ball game. The Rangers were much more comfortable playing in front of the lively crowd, and also appeared to have found their offense in the locker room.

When Drew Cremisino wasn’t leading the break, he was stepping back and drilling huge three-pointers. However, as soon as Forest Lake (15-12) would get close enough to give themselves some hope, Johnson would respond with a fast-break or a three of its own, until it was too late for the Rangers to compensate for their slow start.

“It seemed like they answered every run we made with a big shot,” coach Cremisino said. “Johnson was exceptionally quick up and down the floor...they are a legitimate top five team.”

St. Paul Johnson (25-4) went on to beat Stillwater 39-36 on March 16, and will represent the section at state. For Forest Lake it’s a case of Wait till next year, but they will have to do it without a large group of graduating seniors.

“We’ve been together for a really long time and we’ve played a lot of games,” Drew Cremisino. “We definitely didn’t want to stop, but we just got beat.”

Drew would end his high school career with 14 points and eight assists, while fellow seniors Josh Williams picked up 12 and Aaron Jacobs had seven points and six blocked shots.

That trio, which is joined by Matt Hansmann, Corey Kuefler, Ricky Mickschl, Brandon Anderson, Robert Gavanda and Ben Gort, was even on Brown’s mind the day after the game.

“It was just too bad we had to end,” he shared. “Not only the season, but those seniors have been together for six or seven years, so it’s just too bad we had to end it like that, but it’s been a good run.”

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