Boys' hoops: CR sandwiched in a win between losses

Posted: 1/12/06

Boys' hoops: CR sandwiched in a win between losses

Boys' hoops: CR sandwiched in a win between losses

Coon Rapids was able to claim a non-conference, come-from-behind win over St. Francis between a pair of Northwest Suburban losses to Osseo and Blaine.

St. Francis, which was coming off a Jan. 6 win over Chisago Lakes, 43-42 thanks in part to the 14 points scored by Josh Koch, had a 29-21 lead over Coon Rapids going into halftime. In the second half, however, Coon Rapids came on strong, pulled even, then away into a 58-51 victory. Coon Rapids was led by Zach Johnson and Kyle Harrison, who scored 23 and 16 points. St. Francis, meantime, was led by Chad Urista and Seth Harvey, who scored 21 and 11 points.

In its loss to Osseo the preceding Friday night, Coon Rapids fell behind by 17 in the first half and could not catch up despite 20 points scored by Harrison. And in a 69-47 loss to Blaine Jan. 10, Lucas Matich and Harrison had 15 and 13 points in a game that got away during the second half...

Blaine bounced back

Blaine's victory over Coon Rapids Tuesday night (Jan. 10) came on the heals of a tough 83-79 loss Jan. 6 to Centennial. Ben Kreklow and Brett Ferch led the charge in the 69-47 win over Coon Rapids with 17 and 16 points, while against Centennial Kreklow's 29-point game went for naught. Blaine out-pointed Centennial during the second half, but it was not enough to make up a 10-point deficit it faced over halftime...

Andover fell twice

The high-flying Andover team sustained back-to-back defeats recently to Maple Grove, 63-56, then Elk River 58-48. In the loss to Maple Grove, Jerrel Enerson scored 17 points and Jamar Thompson 11, while in the loss to Elk River Jan. 10, Enerson scored 12 and Jimmy Johnson 11...

Anoka also fell

Centennial also put a loss on Anoka Jan. 10 in a Northwest Suburban play, 69-57. This was in spite of the 12 points scored by both Sean Holley and Eric LaBelle.
Prior to this game, anoka was defeated 81-47 by Elk River. Adam Walch had 13 points in this contest...

Meadow Creek claimed a big win

The Meadow Creek boys' team came back from a 71-47 loss Jan. 6 to Southwest Christian to beat Rivers Christian 70-44 Jan. 10. Leading the meadow Creek charge in this decisive win were Jake Minks, Andrew Berndt and Ethan Mignard, who scored 17, 15 and 10 points. In the loss to Southwest Christian, Berndt led the team with 12 points...

Park stumbled at North Branch

Spring Lake Park was defeated 66-59 in a North Suburban game it played Jan. 10 at North Branch. Park trailed by 12 going into the second half, closed the gap, but not quite enough. Derek Domino led the comeback charge with 21 points, while Mike Wilson scored 15...

Girls' hoops: Andover took a pair of big victories

The Andover girls' team picked up a pair of impressive victories recently, 51-47 over non-conference foe St. Francis Jan. 7, then a 50-48 win over Elk River Jan. 10.

In the win over St. Francis, Andover limited one of the state's top players, Breanna Salley, to just 14 points. Meantime, Andover countered with Rochelle Sather and Katie Theisen, who scored 16 and 11 points.
In the win over Elk River - a comeback from a 25-21 halftime deficit - Sather scored 19 and Theisen 13.

St. Francis won big

Breanna Salley scored 24 and Ali Schwartzwald and Katie Achman 11 points Jan. 9 as St. Francis defeated Chisago Lakes 89-26...

Coon Rapids prevailed

The Coon Rapids girls' team defeated Osseo 59-50, then Blaine 60-52 in a pair of Northwest Suburban games played Jan. 6 and 10. In the win over Osseo, Chelsea Lyons scored 23 and Jazmin Townsend added 19, while in the win over Blaine Townsend scored 24, Lyons 14 and Michelle Syverson 12...

Meadow Creek whipped two foes

Meadow Creek blasted Southwest Christian 56-33 Jan. 6, then came back to rip Rivers Christian 81-32 Jan. 10 in a pair of Minnesota Christian Athletic Association conference games. Liz Woerle scored 18 in the win over Southwest Christian and came back to score 17 in the win over Rivers Christian. Abby Thom and Laura Skog complemented Woerle by scoring 15 and 12 points in the win over Rivers Christian...

Blaine fell to Centennial

Jackie Kelly scored 14, Anna Leafblad 13 and Ana Garcia 10 for Blaine in a 62-54 Northwest Suburban loss Jan. 6 to Centennial. In its Tuesday night loss to Coon Rapids, 60-52, Garcia led the team with 10 points...

Park was defeated

Spring Lake Park dropped its Tuesday night (Jan. 10) North Suburban game to North Branch 60-52. This was in spite of the 11 points scored by Kristen Senftner and the 10 added by Katie Walsh...

Anoka was stopped

Elk River put a big stop on Anoka Jan. 6 in a Northwest Suburban game, 68-36. Anoka was led by Megan Hambleton, who scored 13 points...

PACT split its games

The PACT charter school team lost 57-49 to Braham last weekend despite 18 points scored by Megan Molitor, but came back Jan. 10 to defeated Woodcrest 67-50. Molitor led the team in scoring once more with a 19 points...

Boys' hockey: Park won and tied

Spring Lake Park closed out the first week of January with a 6-0 win over North Branch thanks to two goals scored by both Nick Haften and Nick Johnson and single goals cored by Pat Nelson and Brad Haugen. Goalie Ricky Booker earned the shutout with 19 saves.

In its Jan. 10 game win Chisago Lakes, Park took a 4-2 lead into the last four minutes of regulation and was tied 4-4. Addison Deboer scored two goals, including one midway through the third period to give Park its two-goal lead, while Johnson and Nelson added single goals...

Saints tied and lost

The St. Francis boys' team ran into some trying moments when it tied by North Suburban rival Irondale 3-3 last weekend, then was defeated by Northwest Suburban foe Park Center 5-2. Justin Neis and Chaz Norrgard scored third-period goals to salvage the tie with Irondale, while Neis scored the team's lone goals in the loss to Park Center...

Blaine blanked Andover 6-0

Scott Jaeger stopped 22 shots to earn the shut-out in Blaine's 6-0 win last weekend over Andover. Blaine had previously defeated Champlin Park 6-1.

Jaeger was supported at the other end of the ice by teammates Joe Beaudette, who scored twice, and Danny Sinn, Josh Simi, Matt Olson and Travos Persgard, who all scored once...

Anoka turned it on

Anoka came out of the holiday break with just two wins and a tie on its record, but after last week and weekend, moved into mid-January with four wins and a tie.

Anoka beat Park Center 6-2 in its Thursday game, then dispatched Coon Rapids 7-2 two nights later - Jan. 7.

In the win over Park Center, Kyle Hohmer scored two goals, while Cory Belisle, Jeff Lesmeister and John O'Neill scored single goals. In the win over Coon Rapids, Belisle scored four goals, while Tony rush. Mitch Day and Ryan Noonan scored single goals.

Coon Rapids, which got goals from Andrew Kraabel and Grant Ellena, was defeated in a non-conference game Tuesday night (Jan. 10) by Wayzata 8-1. Ellena scored the lone goal...

Girls' puck: Blaine beat Andover

Ashley Nixon stopped 19 and Shannon Nelson scored two goals last weekend to help Blaine shut out Andover 4-0 in a Northwest Suburban game at Fogerty Arena. In addition to Nelson's goal, Lauren Zrust and Kelley Corkins scored single goals.
Andover came back Tuesday, but despite two goals scored by Megan Gilbert and one by Amanda Buchner, lost 5-3 to Osseo...

Saints won, then lost

St. Francis (cooperatively sponsored with North Branch) whipped St. Louis Park Jan. 7 in a North Suburban game at East Bethel Arena 5-1, then lost its Tuesday night conference game to powerhouse Benilde St. Margaret's 6-2.

In the win over St. Louis Park, Ashley Bliskowski scored two goals, while Alexandra Zebro, Katie Horsch and Neva Widner scored one each. In the loss to Benilde St. Margaret's, Haylea Schmid and Olivia Zebro were he goal-scorers...

Swimming: Coon Rapids third; Park fourth at invite

The Coon Rapids boys' team took third with 354 points and Park claimed fourth with 331.5 last weekend during the annual Panther swimming and diving invitational hosted by Spring Lake Park.

Elk River and Monticello were the one-two finishers in this meet separated by two points, 457 to 455, and claimed a majority of the individual championships. Park, however, claimed two event championships by one swimmer, Kyle Winiecki. He won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:09.46 and the 500-yard freestyle in 5:10.01. Coon Rapids, meantime, did not have an even winner, but three second-place finishes, including two by Ben Coder in the individual medley (behind Winiecki) in 2:15.47 and the breaststroke in 66.22. Logan McLean had the other second-place finisher in the back stroke in 61.42 seconds.

Other top finishes by Coon Rapids swimmers included fourths garnered by Karl Schreifels and Drew Wojak in the breaststroke and 200-yard freestyle races and a fifth by Wojak in the 100-yard freestyle. The squad also had a third-place-finishing 200-yard medley relay team of McLean, Schreifels, Coder and Donaldson.

Other top finishes for Park, included a second by diver Sam Loesch. His brother Jake Loesch, meantime was second in the 200-yard freestyle race in 2:00.27 and later fourth in the backstroke. In addition, Ryan Hay captured a fifth for Park in the 500.

Park also had a pair of second-place freestyle relays - 200 and 400 - in this meet. Jake Loesch, Tom Biedron, Hay and Winiecki combined for 1:37.16 and 3:35.42 finishes in those respective events.

Park, which came back after the Panther invitational Jan. 10 to beat Princeton in a non-conference dual meet 102-83, is host to a True-Team sectional meet this weekend...

Gymnastics: Anoka remained a consistent high scorer

With four new athletes from local club teams filling out its roster this season, the Anoka girls' gymnastics squad started out fast and has continued along a consistent, high-scoring path this season.

The team won the Anoka Hennepin Luau invitational with a score of 141.35, then took second at the Little Falls invitational over the holiday break with a score of 141.3.

Senior all-around performer Lisa Knoll, who is listed in the Minnesota Gymnastics honor roll of top performances, has consistently scored in the 9s on most events. At Little Falls she took first on bars, beam and floor and in the all around with her score on floor of 9.8 standing out as a meet highlight.

Another top scorer is sophomore Kelsey Stafford, who was third in the all around and second in floor exercise at Little Falls with a 9.6 score. This put her on the honor roll, too.

Meantime, senior Marie Heglund placed second on bars during this meet and junior Shavonne Bergman and eighth-grader Amanda Kocovsky have proved to be solid performers and scorers for the team as well...

Wrestling: Blaine had three champs at Cambridge

Kyle Donlan at 103, Clint Daligdig at 112 and John Sundgren at 140 captured individual weight-class championships for Blaine last weekend at the Cambridge Isanti tournament.

Donlan beat Kurt Ehrhorn of Grand Rapids 8-4 in his finale, while Daligdig majored Elk river's Kyle Muetzel in his championship match. Sundgren, meantime, defeated Champlin Park's Andrew Buker by technical fall in the second period.

Other top finishers for the sixth-place-finishing Blaine team in this tourney were: Nate Lee, sixth at 119, Matt Brisbois, sixth at 130, Joey Pauluk, sixth at 135, Josh Hintz, fifth at 145, Asa Kingsbury, third at 189, Chris Heil, fourth at 215 and Torry Gavin, sixth at heavyweight...

Park beat Maple Grove

Spring Lake Park edged Maple Grove 37-30 last week during a three-dual-meet set to open the January portion of its schedule.

Prior to this win, Park was defeated 51-20 to Wayzata and 52-17 to Champlin Park.

In the win over Maple Grove, Matt Weber at 103 and Ben Chandler at 171 both won by fall, while Jesse Borchardt at 152 won by major decision 14-3 and Jamon Brunette at 125, Ryne Sladek at 140 and Brian Leonhardt at 189 all claimed decision wins.

In the loss to Wayzata, Brunette and Leonhardt both claimed falls, while Borchardt won by technical fall and Kyle Kaminski at 119 by 6-4 decision. And in the loss to Champlin Park Matt Weber at 103 claimed a 12-1 victory by major decision, Brunette and Borchardt both won by technical fall and Sladek at 140 won 4-2...

It was a Coon Rapids-St. Francis standoff in the Heights tourney

In what proved to be a very unusual finish last weekend in the Columbia Heights individual tournament, Coon Rapids and St. Francis finished tied for the championship with 269 points.

The tournament was a two-team race from the start; the third-place team, Osseo, finished more than 100 points back. And there was no better example of this two-team dominance than in the championship round in which Coon Rapids had 11 finalists and St. Francis 10.

Coon Rapids took a nine-point lead into that final round, but St. Francis closed the gap and forged a tie with its 215- and 275-pound wrestlers, Andy Robinson and Blaine Hjelm, showing poise under pressure - both had to win their championship matches just to give the Saints the tie.

"I felt our kids responded pretty well," said St. Francis coach Keith Lipinski.

Though it lost a nine-point lead going into the final round of the tournament to St. Francis, the 269 to 269 tie was still quite satisfying for Coon Rapids and its coach Bob Adams.

"St. Francis was the team everyone was pointing to as the one to beat (in Section 7AAA) when the season began, while we weren't even on anyone's radar," he said. "Well, now, I believe we are on the radar screen."

A pair of big dual-meet wins the night before the tournament, 42-17 over Elk River and 30-26 over Bemidji, also afforded support to Coon Rapids' emergence.

Coon Rapids finished the tournament with five weight-class champions: Carter Adams at 130, Mike Cullen at 135, Jason Adams at 140, Matt Curtis, who won another close battle with his season-long rival Justin Decheine of St. Francis 3-1, and Eric Morgan at 189.

The team also had five second-place finishers in Mike Murphy at 103, Kyle Anderson at 112, Seamus O'Grady at 145, Jeff Eagon at 160, Josh Schuldt at 171 and Jason Engstrom at 215 and two third-place finishers in Dakota Oklesson at 119 and Alex Krenik at heavyweight. In addition, Jamari Tucker took a fifth at 125.

"We did our job down low - in the lighter weights - and throughout the day everyone scored points for us," said Adams.

Just enough points.

St. Francis, in contrast, finished with eight individuals champions. In addition to Robinson and Hjelm, Trent Herold, Mack Rivard and Travis Kirpach at 103, 112 and 119 won titles, so did Chris Castellano, Robby Kriesel and Garrett Long at 145, 160 and 171 pounds.

Taking seconds, meantime, were Ryan Owens at 140 and Decheine at 152, while Jared Blaser and Shawn Malley were third-place finishers at 130 and 189 pounds...

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