Out & About: Forest Lake/Cambridge-Isanti

#10 posting 12.20.2007
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

FOREST LAKE rangers 68
CAMBRIDGE-ISANTI bluejackets 57

Forest Lake came back form a 12 point half time deficit to win a critical 7AAAA match up on the road. Annie Berner had 28 points and a boat load of rebounds for Forest Lake. This game also showed that Forest Lake can bounce back from their first loss of the year, and from a big half deficit.

The first half for Forest Lake was a haphazard affair with too many fouls, too many turnovers, and not enough points. The first portion of the game saw both teams struggling to find the bottom of the net. CI broke free of an 8 all tie. They scored on five straight possessions to take a 21-15 lead. Marie Hanson had five points in the sequence. Forest Lake did have a hot streak too at this time with a 6/7 sequence. With Gina Lange sitting due to fouls Anne Berner asserted herself in the paint. She had 8 points in the 13 point Ranger run up to the tie at 21. Just like that the switch was turned off and FL got stuck in a 1/8 sequence, four possessions which ended up as turnovers. CI took advantage of that down time to go on a 10-1 run. Six of the CI points came on second shots. At the half time buzzer Jordan Vavra knocked down a trey to put the home town up 37-25.

Cambridge started the scoring in the second half with one point. The widest margin was 13 points for CI. That is when FL mounted there comeback. Two critical pieces of the comeback were missing in the first half. Lange didn't have to sit down due to fouls, and FL cleaned up their game, and didn't turn the ball over as much. CI took a time out at 14:32 when the score was 38-31. After the time out Tess Milczark scored on a second chancer and had the &1 opportunity, but as happened most of the night, the free throw didn't drop. FL would cut the margin to four. CI would stretch it back to seven with a three from Hanson. FL kept chipping away. Abigale Iverson had three point possessions--two behind the arc, and one the old fashioned way. At the 7:06 mark FL took their first lead in the second half on a rebound basket by Berner after a missed free throw 51-49. CI tied it with Kirsten Anderson's only basket of the night. The height advantage started to work for FL. They scored the next two baskets on second chancers making it three straight scores on second chance points. Cambridge just couldn't generate any offense against Berner inside. Her presence loomed large, and the FL perimeter defense never gave a clean look. FL finished the game with five straight scoring possessions, all at the line. At their widest margin FL led by 13, a topsy turvey second half.

photos: #1: Marie Hanson of CI with a runner. Kasey Kolnberger defending for FL. #2 Kirsten Anderson of CI is sandwiched between Anne Berner and Kristie Miller of FL. Photos by Teas.

key: player, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
FOREST LAKE
STARTERS
Anne Berner 28, 24, 116.7, .625 dominated inside, at 6-4 a difference maker. for some reason smaller CI players would try to challenge her. Big mistake. Berner has missed parts of the last two summers and last winter due to an wrist injury. She is making up for lost time. She has good hands, is strong with the ball. can handle the ball better than most posts. has good timing and instincts. She needs to sit down, get a lower center of gravity in the post, get a wider stance so as not to get knocked off her mark. When looking for the lob she should have her feet pointing to the baseline, not the free throw line. With Loberg of Princeton and Dvorak of Hinckley-Finlayson already verballed, Berner should be highly sought after.
Gina Lange 5, 6, 83.3, .500 is a strong aggressive boarder. Got into foul trouble and limited her time in the first half.
Kasey Kolnberger 2, 7, 28.6, .143 taller perimeter.
Molly Steele 11, 7, 157.1, .571 perimeter. had a 3. also got in foul trouble.
Abigale Iverson 13, 14, 92.9, .357 a tale of two halves. her first half was a pp100 of 25. In the second half she was at 183.3. That improvement went a long way for the win. Early on turnovers/decisions plagued Iverson. In the second half, better choices, and better shooting lifted FL.
BENCH
Audrey Mills 0, 6, 0.0, .000 taller perimeter, useful on defense
Kristie Miller 1, 5, 20.0, .000 taller perimeter, useful on defense
Samantha Holien 8, 7, 114.3, .571 had a strong second half. did make a three. runs the floor, and crashes offensive boards. Needs to understand late game situations. Tried to force things when FL had the lead.

CAMBRIDGE-ISANTI
STARTERS
Tess Milczark 10, 15, 66.7, .400 post player. gave away inches and struggled against the taller Berner. worked to get her defensive rebounds
Jordan Vavra 14, 14, 100.0, .500 perimeter shooter, Another tale of the halves. in the first half had 12 points, but only two free throws in the second half. didn't get free.
Kailee McDonald 3, 6, 50.0, .333 guard. had foul problems early
Marie Hanson 18, 19, 94.7, .421 left handed taller perimeter. Also had her game limited from first to second half. had 13 at half time. scored in transition and second chancers. passing got sloppy in the second half.
Kelsey Holmberg 4, 9, 44.4, .333 perimeter. struggled at the line
BENCH
Kristi Hjeltman 3, 6, 50.0, .167
Allison Peterson 3, 7, 42.9, .286 another lefty
Kirsten Anderson 2, 1, 200.0, 1.000

TRENCH PLAYER
Anne Berner 20/20 night (or 28/21)

BY THE NUMBERS
Forest Lake 68, 76, 89.5, .434
Cambridge-Isanti 57, 77, 74.0, .390
made 3s: FL 4, CI 3
made fts: FL 16, CI 14
bench: FL 9, CI 8
Missed free throws were part of the equation. CI left 18 points at the line, FL 8.
Another factor was second chance points FL had only 3 in the first half, 9 in the second.
CI had 8 in the first and 6 in the second. So even though Berner had 19 defensive rebounds/blocks, CI took advantage of second chancers.
The difference in the halves: for FL 65.6 pp100 in the first; 110.5 in the second. CI 94.9 in the first, 52.6 in the second.

DEFENSIVE WRAPS
FOREST LAKE
Anne Berner 21
Gina Lange 8
Kasey Kolnberger 7.5
Samantha Holien 2.5
Abigale Iverson 2
Audrey Mills 2
Kristie Miller 2
Molly Steele 1
totals: 46

CAMBRIDGE-ISANTI
Tess Milczark 12
Marie Hanson 8
Allison Peterson 4
Jordan Vavra 3
Kailee McDonald 3
Kristi Hjeltman 3
Kelsey Holmberg 3
totals: 36

DEPARTMENT OF THE DEFENSE
FL used a variety of zones in the first half including 2/3; 1/3/1. in the second half it was man
CI used man in the first half, and used the 1/2/1/1 press to some success in the first half. In the second half FL handled the press much better.

ALSO TONIGHT
At the Woodbury Tournament
Armstrong beat North St. Paul 66-25. At half time 32-15. Quick Nicole Dooher had 18 for Armstrong. 15 players scored for Armstrong.

Mpls South beat the host 66-35. That was an earned 66. It was 33-15 at half time. Tayler Hill had 19 points, 13 in the first half. Woodbury moved the ball 20 times before a shot was attempted. Woodbury matched South on speed. South didn't get much transition.

Hopkins got revenge on Minneapolis Roosevelt 78-51. Last year Roosevelt beat Hopkins in Minneapolis.

Taylor Voss from Albany got her 1000th point tonight in a game against Melrose. Albany won the game 72-46 played at Melrose. Taylor reached her goal with 6:30 left in the first half by canning a 3 point shot. She needed 14 points tonight to reach 1000 points. She went on to score 29 points and hit 5 three pointers. Sam Larsen will soon join Taylor Voss in the 1000 point club soon, she needs 45 points. Albany will have three 1000 point scores on the same team. Jennie Noreen has scored 1320 in her varsity career.

Next up: tomorrow