St. Francis storms from behind to stun Chicago Lakes

<p>After the game, one fan was heard to say, “We should have creamed that team.” I thought she meant host Chisago Lakes, which led 35-19 at 4:22 of the 1st half and still led 60-48 at the 7 minute mark of the 2nd half. But, no, she was a St. Francis fan and she meant to say that Saints should have won easily except that they had played so very poorly.</p> <p>So, who played worse? Well, Chisago, of course. They lost. Mainly that was because of 23 turnovers leading to 24 St. Francis points, including the game winners. Meanwhile, St. Francis committed 21 turnovers leading to 24 Chisago Lakes points. Neither team moved or protected the ball worth a darn.</p> <p>But, more than than, this game had more twists and turns and subplots than I expect to see again for some time. At first, I thought the storyline would revolve around Carmen Backes, Chisago’s 6-2 senior and Ms. Basketball candidate, who is coming back from a pair of injuries that kept her out for much of both 2016 and 2017. Is she all the way back? Is she 100 percent? </p> <p>No, and no. We were told that she is 80 percent, and that her minutes were still limited to 12 to 14 per half. That didn’t stop her from dominating the 1st half with 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 7-of-9 FT, though she exceeded her limit with about 14:30 on the floor. In the 2nd half she played another 14:30 and managed 9 rebounds but was held to 4 points on 2-of-6 shooting. But that, it seemed, turned on the St. Francis D and Chisago’s inability to protect the ball rather than on any lack of conditioning on Backes’ part.</p> <p>But the main storyline turned out to be the Saints very surprising rotation. They started “5 posts,” as one fan gasped (actually 2 centers and 3 forwards but, indeed, no guards). The usual starting guards Danah Ocsan, Amme Sheforgen and Grace Eastman all started the game on the bench. Ocsan played maybe 10 minutes on the night, Eastman a little more than that and Sheforgen maybe a couple. Mae Grahek played maybe 8 minutes of the 2nd half. Playing without guards for long periods of time, the Saints ballhandling was not great, but it was better than Chisago’s.</p> <p>And, yet, Chisago led 35-19 and 60-48, thanks to Backes and Alethea Kluge, Backes’ running mate at forward, who scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the 2nd half.</p> <p>But St. Francis closed the game on a 23-10 run. Chisago turned it over on 6 of 10 possessions and the Saints whittled the lead from 60-48 to 64-62. Kluge and Anna Peters scored for Chisago to make it 68-63 with 1:20 to go, but Sidney Zgutowicz responded with 3-of-4 FT, including one on a terrible foul after a missed Chisago FT at 0:55, 75 feet from the Saints’ basket. Backes made it 70-66 at 0:36, but Grahek hit a 3 to get the Saints within 70-69 with 30 ticks remaining on the clock.</p> <p>Chisago couldn’t get the ball across the time line. Zgutowicz knocked it loose, and there were quickly 3 white (Saints) jerseys on the loose ball and just one green shirt. Zgutowicz got the ball to Daelyn O’Brien who missed a shot, but Grahek got the offensive board and put it back up and in. It was the 1st St. Francis lead since 2-0.</p> <p>The Saints were led by Zgutowicz with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting and 7 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. She was often the Saints’ best ballhandler on the floor but she had 7 turnovers. Grahek and Grace Eastman added 11 and only one turnover between them. Chisago outshot the Saints a solid 48 percent to 43 percent while the rebounds were 33-31 St. Francis.</p> <p>For the record, Ocsan and Sheforgen are the Saints #2 and #3 scorers at 14 and 8 ppg and they played hardly at all, while Eastman and Grahek are #5 and #6 at 6 and 6 and played more and better. But the Saints started 2 centers and 3 forwards and did not have a guard on the floor for long periods of time. You could say the experiment worked. St. Francis won. But at least one Saints fan thought, “We should have creamed that team,” with a more conventional lineup. </p>