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Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
The Suburban East Conference regular season wrapped up last weekend, with a definitive separation between the teams in the upper echelon and those that reside on the lower levels.
Regardless of the March 7 result at Mounds View, Forest Lake couldn’t move up or down in the standings, as the Rangers were locked into fourth place. Looking down on them from the higher floors were Cretin-Derham Hall, Stillwater and the Mounds View Mustangs.
What could have occurred with a Rangers victory was the opportunity to solidify their position as an equal. Entering Friday’s matchup, Forest Lake had split its season series against Cretin and Stillwater, and then focused on doing the same with the Mustangs.
“We hoped to get a win Friday night, and I felt like we were ready, but it didn’t work out for us,” head coach Dan Cremisino said after the 58-50 setback.
“Mounds View came out in a zone and we were not able to shoot them out of it. Give credit to Mounds View, they are very good and are well coached.”
When these two squared off in January, the Rangers were down by as much as 18 points, yet somehow regrouped to pull ahead by six, only to eventually lose 74-71.
In the regular season’s conclusion, the swings weren’t so large, but the Mustangs were up by six at intermission and went on to win by eight.
That’s a lot less offense for both teams. While the Rangers were able to limit Mike Schramm and Nick Bartlett on the defensive end, Mounds View (20-6, 12-4) was doing the same to Forest Lake.
Cremisino watched his lineup misfire from three-point range (2-19), and shoot just 32 percent from the field.
The Rangers’ aggressive defense kept them in it — forcing 23 turnovers — but with the team gorging itself on the front, back and side of the rim, too many of those opportunities were left off the scoreboard.
There was plenty of balance in the Rangers’ stats, but no one could rack up more than Zach Riedeman’s 11 points. Ryan Brown contributed nine, Brandon Phelps chipped in with seven, and both Griffin Lentsch and Brad Kopp tossed in six points each.
“Finishing 9-7 in conference was filled with mixed emotions,” Cremisino said. “We went 3-5 the first half and 6-2 the second. If we could have solved Mounds View and Park we could have made a run at the title. For right now we will have to be content with the No. 1 seed in Section 7.”
The final week in the SEC opened with Forest Lake on the road against a Hastings group that is more competitive than its 5-21 record (1-15 in the SEC).
In typical Rangers fashion, the boys fell behind early, and entered the break down by double figures. Whatever the head coach said in the locker room certainly worked, as Forest Lake poured in 40 points in the second half, held the Raiders to 24, and secured a 62-59 victory.
“Hastings was a struggle,” Cremisino admitted. “After going cold in the first half we found ourselves down by 13. We came out with more energy and better pressure defense, and Brown and Riedeman had nice second halves. We were just glad to get out of there with a win.”
Over the past month, Riedeman has been on a tear, and he led the team in scoring with 16 points (five rebounds, two assists). Lentsch turned in a solid shooting performance on the way to 14 points (five boards, two steals), and Brown came through with a dozen (seven assists, four steals).
The Section 7AAAA playoffs kicked off on Tuesday night, where the top-seeded Rangers defeated No. 8 seed Duluth East, 69-44. With the win, Forest Lake (18-9, 9-7) heads to Elk River on Friday, March 14 to face Coon Rapids.
Box Score
Forest Lake 24 26 — 50
Mounds View 30 28 — 58
Forest Lake — Lentsch 6, Sewall 2, Phelps 7, Brown 9, Young 2, Kopp 6, Cremisino 3, Kuefler 2, Riedeman 11, Person 2.
Mounds View — Baran 9, Cronquist 3, Severson 4, Sharpe 2, Bartlett 6, Harris 4, Harding 6, Schramm 12, Carroll 12.
Free throws — FL 10-16, MV 11-17. Three-pointers — FL 2, MV 5.
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