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Blaine stuns Forest Lake in girls basketball section opener |
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Wednesday, 05 March 2008 |
Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
During the regular season, the Forest Lake girls basketball team did not lose to a section opponent.
The Rangers were 5-0 in those matchups and looking to make it six when Blaine stopped by for the opening round of the Section 7AAAA playoffs.
Last Thursday night, Forest Lake picked the wrong time to drop its first game, as the seventh-seeded Blaine Bengals pulled off the 52-47 upset.
Fouls, turnovers, loose balls and jumps balls were the featured attraction in this one, as the majority of the contest looked like Forest Lake was waiting for Blaine to pack up its five wins and head home.
That never happened.
Instead, the Bengals’ confidence grew on their way to hitting seven three-pointers, and the Rangers got beat on fundamentals and hustle.
“Thursday night was a disappointment. It was extremely difficult to get outplayed by a team that on paper we should have dominated,” head coach Jen Wagner said.
“What hurt us were things we have talked about and worked on the entire season — careless turnovers, handling pressure, consistent shooting, both inside and outside, making free throws and dominating the boards.”
The second-seeded Rangers were up by five at the half and never could shake the scrappier Blaine squad (6-21).
Until the late stages of the game, when Forest Lake’s Annie Berner (17 points) took control on the offensive end, the Rangers’ had a difficult time finding any rhythm, and were plagued by errant passes and general miscues.
“We had too many turnovers, gave up too many offensive rebounds, missed free throws and shot poorly,” was how Wagner summed up the depressing entry into the offseason.
With less than a minute remaining, the Bengals were able to knock down their free throws, while Forest Lake (16-11) was going one-for-two from the line, or missing the front end of a 1-and-1.
In the end, free throws made the difference in the final outcome, but it was an entire 36 minutes of regulation where Blaine put itself in a position to move on to Round 2.
Coming into sectionals, the Bengals’ Tracie Gillund and Kirsten Goodroad averaged a combined 14 points. Aided by Goodroad’s 4-for-6 from beyond the three-point arc, those two totalled 33 points against the Rangers.
“Playoffs are exciting because anything can happen, but are also extremely painful when you have to end the season the way we did,” Wagner added.
Forest Lake graduates six players — Audrey Mills, Abi Iverson, Kasey Kolnberger, Mary Blake, Katie Anderson and Danielle Boldenow — and Wagner felt they deserved a better farewell, not such a bitter one.
“My hope for our program is that we can recognize what went wrong both on the floor and off the floor this season, celebrate the many successes we did have, honor our seniors and work in the offseason so that next year we do get to game number 30.”
Box score
Blaine 19 33 — 52
Forest Lake 24 23 — 47
Blaine — Dombek 7, Chuinard 3, Suda 2, Kelly 4, Gillund 17, Jergenson 3, Goodroad 16.
Forest Lake — Iverson 5, Steele 6, Berner 17, Lange 13, Kolnberger 5, Acosta 1.
Fouled out — Blaine, Suda; FL, Lange. Free throws — Blaine 9-12, FL 16-25. Three-pointers — Blaine 7, FL 1.
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