Basketball recap: Feb. 5

By Jason Olson
SportsPrepZone Editor

Boys' basketball
Spring Lake Park 74, St. Francis 55
St. Francis ' run of three wins came to an end Friday night in a tough 74-55 loss at a crowded St. Francis gym.
Park seniors Travis Johnson and Elijah Sabah each contributed 24 points as the team improved to 10-9, scoring in the 70s for the fifth consecutive game.

Gilpin led a trio of Saints scoring in double digits, led by Gilipn with 19 points. Julkowski added 13 and Matt Polis scored 10 points.

Coon Rapids 64, Blaine 60
Despite out scoring Coon Rapids 46-35 in the second half, Blaine came up short, losing seven of its past eight games. The Cardinals continued moving in the opposite direction, winning its third game in four tries to improve to 8-9 overall.

Blaine 's Zach Romashko scored a game-high 20 points while Sam Chase contributed 18 points in the loss. Senior guard Jesse Briggity added 11 points, but fouled out.

Coon Rapids senior guard Torren Dowdy scored 16 points while Malcome Farley and Aaron Lukitsch each scored 12 points.

Andover 51, Elk River 47
Elk River's Jack Nelson led all scorers with 18 points in a Northwest Suburban Conference loss while the Huskies were paced by Andrew Berndt's 13 points and Tyler Finnes and Jason Schneider who each scored 10 points in the home win for Andover . Andover overcame a two-point deficit at the half to improve to 9-8.

Centennial 69, Anoka 67
The Tornadoes continued its run of recent struggles, losing its third game in a row Friday night on the road at Centennial in overtime. No additional information was available.

Girls' basketball
St. Francis 65, Spring Lake Park   47
Saints senior Melissa Borstner led the way with 23 points and Jordan Falk scored 10 points as St. Francis improved to 17-3, staying undefeated at the top of the North Suburban Conference at 10-0.

Centennial 72, Anoka 43
The Tornadoes losing streak reached 10 games Friday night as Centennial's Megan Waytashek scored a game-high 25 points. Anoka senior Erin Hilliard led her team with 13 points ad Briana Coffland added 11 points.

Blaine 65, Coon Rapids 36
The Bengals improved to 4-1 since Jan. 22, thanks in part to sophomore Alysha Heath's 14 points and junior Taylor Kind adding 10 points. Coon Rapids junior Caitlynn Happke led her team with 11 points and sophomore Ashley Smith contributed seven points.

Jason Olson is at jason.olson@ecm-inc.com.