|
Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
A low-scoring first half turned out to be the downfall for the girls basketball team, as Forest Lake was defeated by the streaking Totino-Grace Eagles, 51-47 on Saturday afternoon.
“Totino-Grace is a very good team, however, we are the better team,” head coach Jen Wagner said. “We had some mental breakdowns, unforced turnovers and some missed assignments that hurt us.”
Since dropping its first two games of the season, Totino-Grace made the Rangers its 10th straight victim, by getting out to a 20-14 lead at intermission, and then holding off a major effort from Annie Berner and Forest Lake.
The junior post player led all scorers with 28 points, and every single one of those came in the second half.
Berner also did her best to keep her team within range on the defensive end, blocking eight shots in the contest.
The pace and the scoring picked up in the second half, with Forest Lake (9-3, 3-1) outscoring Grace 33-31, but the extra two points weren’t enough to push the Rangers past the Eagles.
With Berner and teammate Gina Lange controlling the middle this season, Forest Lake typically racks up the rebounds, but that wasn’t the case on Jan. 5. Behind Caroline Haik and Lizzi Naumann, the Eagles pulled down 10 more than the Rangers.
Besides Berner, only four other Forest Lake players scored. Leading the rest of the pack were Lange (eight points, 10 rebounds, two blocks) and Molly Steele (eight points, five boards).
“As a team, we have been fighting through some illnesses and injury, but that is no excuse,” Wagner pointed out. “Having changes in the line-up gives other players the opportunity to step it up. Playing through adversity is a good test for us. It will help us to build character and understand the importance of teamwork.”
The setback was the second straight loss for Wagner’s crew, and after a run of four non-conference games, the Rangers were back to the Suburban East Conference on Jan. 8. The girls’ hosted White Bear Lake (6-7, 2-3) on Tuesday and Roseville (9-4, 5-0) on Friday, before heading to Woodbury (8-3, 3-1) on Jan. 15.
Box score
Forest Lake - Steel 8, Berner 28, Mills 1, Miller 2, Lange 8.
Totino-Grace - Ja. Meyer 6, Scott 8, Haik 13, Naumann 12, McHale 4, Je. Meyer 4, Laventure 4.
Fouled out - Berner, Lange
Free throws - FL 19-23, TG 9-20 Three-pointers- FL2, TG 2.
|
