Gloria Liu

At 7:15 p.m., the tip-off began. The Forest Lake Rangers (13-10) took first possession, but the Mounds View Mustangs (12-11) took back possession quickly, getting the first points on the board with an impressive three-point shot by senior guard Bria Stenstrom. But the Rangers quickly answered with a three-pointer by sophomore guard Natalie Krutzig.

Breaking up the back-and-forth game, junior guard Kate Roeber swooped in to steal the ball and make a layup, bringing back Mounds View’s lead, but not for long. Forest Lake’s top scorer, 5’11” senior guard Cassidy Pitzl took advantage of their repossession to make a clean three-pointer. A force on defense, Pitzl halted any attempts by Mounds View to quickly make up their lead.

With 3:08 left in the first half, the Mustangs were down 31-34 but narrowed Forest Lake’s lead with two free throws after a shooting foul by the Rangers. The first half remained close with Pitzl scoring almost half of the Rangers’ 37 points and the Mustangs offense working hard to put 35 points on the board by the end of the half. 

The Rangers quickly got back on their feet after the first half, taking possession to start off the second half. There seemed to be a shift in the Rangers offense — keen coordination on their new plays forced the Mustangs to foul to prevent shots. Pitzl continued to dominate on offense. A few minutes into the second half, she spun around a Mustang defender and back stepped to make a three-pointer. 

The Rangers quickly began to dominate the game, but the Mustangs looked for late-game opportunities to make a comeback. With a few minutes remaining, Roeber stole the ball from the Rangers to make an open layup. Then, Stemstrom made a side-step jump shot to put some final points on the board. 

But those plays weren’t enough to win the game. The Rangers took the victory by running down the clock with their final possessions, winning 57-72.