Johnson and Rice were oh so nice for Forest Lake

<p>When your name is Johnson, it&#39;s not all that difficult to blend into the crowd. As upcoming opponents do their homework on Forest Lake, the pre-scout likely focuses on players whose names and games stand out a little bit more. Well on Thursday at the Hill-Murray holiday tournament, <strong>Maddy Rice</strong> may have been good and <strong>Abigail Groeneweg</strong> may have been better but the often overlooked <strong>Lyndsey Johnson</strong> was best. The result was an impressive 56-40 win over the Warriors of Henry Sibley.</p> <p>Johnson was a force, shooting 8 for 9 on the afternoon, good for 19 points and a starring role. She shared the spotlight with Rice, who was 5 of 6 from three, pulled down 8 rebounds and equaled Johnson&#39;s 19-point outburst. And Groeneweg? Well all she did was neutralize Sibley forward <strong>Tori Nelson</strong>, the #4 player in the Class of 2019 who has a scholarship in her future at South Dakota State.</p> <p>The first time I saw Johnson this year I was quite impressed. The second time I was scrounging for information. During yesterday&#39;s viewing I was trying to figure out where she needed to be in our upcoming rankings refresh. Johnson is super fast, has a strikingly long stride, and can power to the hoop with impressive athleticism. She&#39;s also a tenacious defender who is all-in every minute she&#39;s on the court. I don&#39;t think it would be a stretch to say she was the best player on the floor, and that&#39;s saying a lot.</p> <p>Henry Sibley got the jump on the Rangers Thursday with a quick 5-0 lead. Then Johnson went to work, sparking a 13-1 run and scoring 10 points in the game&#39;s first seven minutes. The score was 16-8 when Rice cashed in with a trio of three-pointers in quick succession. Junior <strong>Abby Leach</strong> added one of her own and before you knew it the lead was 15.</p> <p>In addition to the offensive fireworks, Groeneweg was hard at work making Nelson&#39;s life h-e-double hockey sticks. That&#39;s no small feat. Nelson is smooth and athletic, a finesse player with a vast array of moves and the ability to go off for 25 or 30 points on any given day. Nelson was largely nullified by Groeneweg&#39;s tenacity and intelligence. Tori had 15 points but could never get free enough to dominate. Abigail is the #21 player in the 2019 class, a power forward who plays much bigger than her 5&#39;10" height because she is super smart and always seems to get the advantageous position on her opponent.</p> <p>In the second half, Johnson&#39;s defensive abilities were shining. She is physical. She is fierce. She is effective. The Warriors closed the gap to seven points at one juncture, but Rice made a deuce and two more treys in two minutes. Her long bombs gave Forest Lake the spark it need to ignite the Rangers. By that point even Smokey Bear could not extinguish this Forest fire.</p> <p>Forest Lake is a bit of an enigma. They can look really good (as they did against Henry Sibley) or they can look really ordinary (as they did when we saw them earlier.) It appears as though the Rangers&#39; day-to-day success is largely dependent on one thing: shooting percentage. If they&#39;re on, they&#39;re good. If they&#39;re not, they&#39;re not.</p> <p>The Rangers started the season with high hopes. Some folks had them ranked in the pre-season 4A top 10. With perhaps their best player – junior <strong>Kenzie Stumne</strong> (Montana State) – sidelined long-term with a knee injury, we were a little less enthusiastic, but still considered Forest Lake worthy of the top 20. When the season began, the Rangers limped out of the gate a little, and then disappeared from the poll altogether. Now they have battled back, won three games in a row, and pushed their record to a respectable 6-3. Henry Sibley is now 4-5, having dropped three of its last four.</p>