Super senior Carmen Backes carries Chisago Lakes past Princeton in 7AAA

<p>Although you might not know it from their middle-of-the road record this season, Princeton Tigers coach Erik Jacobs has a lot of very nice assets to work with. What they don&#039;t have is Carmen Backes. The super senior from Chisago Lakes – one of the very best of this year&#039;s graduating class – was the difference-maker Tuesday night in Lindstrom as Chisago scored a 53-51 victory over Princeton. As a result, the Wildcats moved on in section 7AAA to face the Hermantown Hawks and Princeton went home to ponder what might have been.</p> <p>Backes, who averages nearly 23 points per game, is a high-end player bound for the Big 10, who came up big in her team&#039;s most important game of the year. The 6&#039;2 forward, who has spent way too much of her high school career rehabbing from serious injuries, was here, there and everywhere in the second half Tuesday. She scored 15 points down the stretch – 21 in all – while powering Chisago to the victory. Had she run to the corner store for 10 minutes, or sat on the bench in foul trouble as she did for a good chunk of the first half, Princeton might have prevailed.</p> <p><strong>Back and forth it went</strong></p> <p>The first half was a back-and-forth affair that saw Princeton lead by 7 points on two separate occasions before Chisago narrowed the gap. The Tigers led by two at the half, thanks largely to the impressive play of senior guard Julia Bjurman (13 points per game), her sophomore sister Lauren (11 ppg) and junior guard Madyson Shafer (10 ppg), who combined for 40 points on the night. After the break, Princeton quickly stretched the lead to seven once more. Chisago pulled ahead when Backes was left alone in the paint for an easy basket with just over four minutes remaining. Then it got dramatic.</p> <p>Chisago was still ahead at 2:47 when Lauren Bjurman scored at the rim to pull the Tigers within two at 49-47. With just under two minutes on the clock. Julia Bjurman was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three from the line, putting Princeton up 50-49. Thirty seconds later, Shafer drove to the rim and took contact to the face. There was no foul called on the play, but she had to temporarily leave the game with a bloody nose.</p> <p>The see-saw continued in the final minute when 6-foot freshman Sophie Woods – one of the more impressive forwards in the class of 2021 – gave Chisago the lead once again with a put-back in the paint. She had 14 in the game. Off the inbound, Shafer and Julia Bjurman made a couple of failed attempts to penetrate before Bjurman put up a somewhat desperate shot from the baseline and was fouled by Chisago&#039;s Hannah Gillach with 36 seconds left. Bjurman missed on the first attempt but made the second to tie the game at 51.</p> <p><strong>Big-time players make big-time plays</strong></p> <p>That&#039;s when the big time player made the big time play. As she has done so many times before for Chisago Lakes and North Tartan, Backes delivered when her team needed her the most. Surrounded by defenders, with just 20 seconds on the clock, Carmen worked her way to within two feet of the basket, from where she softly slipped the ball over the rim for a 53-51 lead. Princeton failed to get a shot off with time outs at 14.5 and 4.5 seconds before Shafer launched a desperation three. The ball bounced off the rim and into the hands of Backes. Game over.</p> <p>Simply put, Backes was terrific in the second half, no doubt impressing Wisconsin assistant Sasha Palmer who had flown in to surprise her star recruit. Backes was the first player new coach Jonathan Tsipis signed as part of the Badgers&#039; rebuilding program, and she will make her debut in Madison this fall. She is a highly-skilled, athletic wing with great vertical and a solid frame who can run the floor and play multiple positions. Wisconsin has also received a commitment from Centennial junior post Sara Stapleton, and is hot on the trail of another top junior in Minnesota.</p> <p>Princeton finishes the year with a disappointing record of 12-14. After a five-game winning streak in December, the Tigers went 5-10 the rest of the way. They lost three times to Chisago, including an overtime defeat last week. The Wildcats, who have been inconsistent all year but may be peaking at the right time, are now 15-11. They&#039;ll face 21-5 Hermantown in the section semifinals on Saturday.</p>