Sports roundup: Girls basketball – Fridley falls to Irondale
BY RYAN SCHLEICHER – SUN NEWSPAPERS
Last Friday, Fridley went up against Irondale in this North Suburban Conference matchup.
Things were an uphill battle for Fridley as they were held to just six points through the first half. Sarah Cowenhoven led Fridley with 11 points but that wasn’t near enough as Delaney Kohler scored 15 points and Brooke Degelau had 12 points as the Irondale Knights cruised to a 55-31 victory and remain in first place in the North Suburban Conference standings.
Fridley falls to 1-4 overall and is one game back in their conference. The Tigers have another conference matchup this week when they take on Columbia Heights at Fridley High School.
Columbia Heights
The Hylanders are 1-1 over their last two games winning against Spectrum High School but falling to Benilde-St. Margaret’s. Sewa Infonalaja led the way for Columbia Heights scoring 16-points as Columbia Heights picked up a road victory beating the Spectrum Sting 55-40.
Unfortunately, luck would not keep going their way as Benilde-St. Margaret’s rolled into town. Columbia Heights struggled to get anything going offensively as BSM controlled the pace of the game. Grace Coughlin, Allie Coughlin, and Azzairia Jackson-Sherrod combined for 35-points and leading BSM to a convincing 70-31 victory.
Seewa Infonalaja continued to be a bright spot for the Hylanders as she scored eleven of Columbia Heights 31-points. Columbia Heights sits with a 2-and-4 overall record and is one game back for the conference lead. For their next game, Columbia Heights will face Fridley in a North Suburban Conference matchup that could prove pivotal in conference playoffs at the conclusion of the regular season.
Totino-Grace
Totino-Grace has had a bit of a rough go over their last two games falling to an overall record of 1-4 with losses coming to North St. Paul 51-33 and to Spring Lake Park in a North Suburban Conference matchup 68-56. North St. Paul dominated every faucet of the game against Totino to run away with an 18-point win.
However, things were different against Spring Lake Park. Totino-Grace displayed more energy, and were a lot more chaotic as they scrambled all over the floor creating havoc on defense. Gabby Eisfelder from Totino led the way with 11-points as star Madison Soukup was held in check only netting five total points. Breanna Semanko and Christina Wakeman combined for 34-points and helped lead Spring Lake Park to a very important conference victory.
Totino will see North Branch at home Tuesday night before hopping on the road to visit Robbinsdale Cooper Friday night at 7 p.m.
Boys basketball
Columbia Heights
Columbia Heights went 1-for-1 over their last two games to keep their season on a very positive note with an overall record of 3-and-1. A massive victory against Fair at home in which Deon Sanstad scored 20-points leading the way for Columbia Heights to secure a 90-43 victory last Tuesday night.
Friday had Columbia Heights on the road as they traveled to Lakeview Christian Academy where Anders Browman scored an unbelievable 42 points for a Lakeview team who could just not find enough offense against Columbia Heights. Offensive was fast and furious to begin, as these two teams combined to score a total of 79 first half points.
Defense took over in the second half as the teams appeared to be polar opposites only scoring 51 combined points. The Hylanders pulled off the win behind 16-points from both Colton Williams and Jarret Baptiste, Deon Sanstad chipped in 14 points of his own with Marice Craemer adding 11 points and the Hylander outdueled Lakeview Christian Academy to a 76-71 victory. Columbia Heights travels to St. Paul Highland Park this week Thursday night at 7 p.m. to try and continue their hot, early season start.
Fridley
Last Tuesday night, Fridley lost a nail-biter to St. Paul Highland Park 84-82 in overtime. At the end of regulation these two teams were knotted at 78 and fans that packed into the Fridley gymnasium got to witness more than what they paid for to decide the winner of this one. St. Paul Highland found a way to squeak by in overtime with putting up six-points and holding Fridley to just four-points edging a one-bucket victory.
Darius Mulbah and Chaney Pal led the way for Fridley scoring combined 35-points but Fridley had no answer for Highland Park’s Dion Bradley as he put up 52-points to handcuff Fridley. The Tigers have an early record of 1-and-2 having an opportunity this week to make strong headway in their conference.
This Tuesday, Fridley has a date on the road with St. Paul Harding before their North Suburban Conference matchup against North Branch on Friday at Fridley High School.
Totino-Grace
No wins over their last two games has the Totino-Grace Eagles in a very early hole to begin the season. The Eagles fell to Rogers 73-58 and to White Bear Lake 66-64 last week. TG’s Reggie Meyer led the way with 21 points against Rogers but Totino-Grace could not stop the onslaught of Luke Pecka who scored 19 points and the rest of Rogers depth from the bench.
Against White Bear Lake, Collin Fleming led the way scoring a season best 23-points closely followed by Reggie Meyer who scored 22 points of his own. As impressive as that is, White Bear Lakes’ Beau Smit tossed up 23-points of his own en route to his team bringing home the hard fought win. Totino-Grace as a result begins the season 0-2 and in the cellar in the North Suburban Conference.
Mahtomedi hosts Totino-Grace on Tuesday, with the Eagles hosting Robbinsdale Cooper on Friday.
Looking ahead
A lot of great Hockey matchups are slated for area teams. On the boys side, Irondale has a huge early season test come this Saturday at 7 p.m. when they host Spring Lake Park in a North Suburban Conference showdown at the Schwan Super Rink.
Totino-Grace will play against Achiever Academy on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at the Richfield Arena. With a win, Totino-Grace will move into a tie atop the North Suburban Conference standings and secure a record of 4-1-1.
Girls hockey has some very important games right before the holidays as well. Totino-Grace will travel to St. Louis Park this Friday at 6:30 at the St. Louis Park Recreation Center for a conference battle that will help try and bridge the gap between Irondale and all the other teams in North Suburban Conference.
After coming off a huge victory against Totino-Grace, Irondale looks to further advance their conference lead when they go head-to-head against second place North Suburban Conference team Benilde-St. Margaret’s Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the National Sports Center in Blaine.
Boys and girls alpine and nordic ski holiday relays will be held this Friday and Saturday. Alpine Skiing will begin at 9 a.m. on Friday at the Wild Mountain Ski Area and Nordic Skiing will begin at 9 a.m. at the Troll Haugen Ski Area.
On Friday, Dec. 21, the boys and girls basketball teams from Fridley will be conducting a food drive during their home doubleheader. This food drive will be in conjunction with the Fridley National Honor Society. Anyone who patronizes the game, and brings a non-perishable canned food item will receive a dollar off regular admission. Individuals are encouraged to bring more than one can, as they will receive a dollar discount to the basketball game per item they bring.
The maximum number of canned items they are asking a person to bring is six, which will earn them a free entry into the night’s events.
