|
Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
This is all White Bear Lake’s fault.
Exactly one month after the girls basketball team lost to the Bears in their first meeting, Forest Lake has watched its losses add up and its win total plateau.
Entering the Jan. 8 home game, the Rangers had nine wins and just three losses. After White Bear defeated head coach Jen Wagner’s squad again last Friday, 64-56, Forest Lake is now 13-9 overall (6-7 in conference), while the Bears have utilized two victories over the Rangers to key a 7-2 run during the past four weeks.
One major problem for Wagner’s girls was having White Bear Lake get out to a 10-point halftime lead, which proved to be too big of a deficit for the Rangers to overcome.
“Friday night was a tough loss. The kids understood that the last time we played White Bear Lake they out-hustled us and outworked us,” Wagner said. “Bottom line, they just outplayed us.”
The offense for both teams was in much better shape after the break, but despite scoring 20 more points than they did in the first half, Forest Lake couldn’t stop the Bears from holding an eight-point advantage at the end of the night.
(Photo by TLC Digital Images)
BOARDING SCHOOL: Pictured here against Elk River, Audrey Mills was a big asset against White Bear Lake, pulling down 10 rebounds to go with four points.
“As a team, we were coming off a big high from our Senior Night versus Chisago Lakes, and had four solid days of practice,” Wagner shared. “And more importantly, the kids did not want to get outworked or embarrassed like last time. With all of that being said, it was disappointing not to come away with a victory.”
Four Rangers — Gina Lange (13 points), Annie Berner 11 points), Abi Iverson (nine) and Molly Steele (nine) — contributed at least nine points a piece, but White Bear Lake’s Carly Jensen dropped in 21 points, Stacy Dally had 14, and Julia Dysthe helped with 11 points.
“Bigger picture is, we have to continue to get better. We have to take better care of the basketball, we have to continue to work hard on defense doing the little things, (and) we have to continue to work towards our goal of winning the section final game,” Wagner said.
The Suburban East Conference adventure doesn’t get any easier for Forest Lake, as Woodbury (15-5, 9-3) stops in for a visit on Friday. After the Royals won 41-40 in mid-January, the Rangers will be looking for some revenge in this one.
The following afternoon, Forest Lake will be in Duluth to face the Duluth East Greyhounds.
“I do believe that the conversations we had as a team Friday after the game will help us re-focus and rededicate ourselves to our team goal of getting to 30 games,” Wagner added. “And right now our focus needs to be on everyone working to help the team achieve success, on and off the court.”
Box score
Forest Lake 18 38 - 56
White Bear Lake 28 36 - 64
Forest Lake - Iverson 9, Steele 9, Berner 11, Mills 4, Lange 13, Kolnberger 2, Blake 5, Acosta 3.
White Bear Lake - Petrich 2, Laizzo 3, Dally 4, Bysthe 11, Dickey 6, Jensen 21, Potter 2, Guenther 4, Newman 1.
Free throws - FL 13-22, WBL 15-24. Three-pointers - FL 5, WBL 5.
|
