Chaska and Minnetonka were on the verge of a tight battle early on.

Each struggled to pull away from one another exchanging buckets and defensive stops.

That was until the Skippers' Courtney Fredrickson once again found her scoring touch.

The smooth-shooting, left-handed sophomore scored 26 points to lead Minnetonka to an impressive 63-47 win against Chaska on Tuesday at Minnetonka High School.

"It is so nice to have her back and to have her back healthy," Skippers' coach Leah Dasovich said. "She was really good tonight."

Two significant runs by the Skippers in the first half gave them a comfortable 32-19 lead at the half.

The largest burst was a 13-point run in which Fredrickson accounted for 11 of the points. She knocked down three 3-pointers in that stretch.

"We have so much depth on our team this year," she said. "Maybe not a lot of Division I players, but a lot of great players, and I have been able to benefit from the great play of my teammates where I have been open.

"I also feel very healthy this year. I had a few injuries last year, but I have been feeling really good this year."

Fredrickson scored 12 points in the first and did not show any signs of slowing down in the second. She scored the first nine for Minnetonka to extend its lead to 37-23.

She did it all for the Skippers on the offensive end. Aggressive in the paint, stepping out to hit a three or, if the Hawks put her on the line, Fredrickson was the key.

Minnetonka had its hands full trying to limit Hawks' senior forward Ellie Thompson. She put in 20 points to lead Chaska.

"We knew they were going to go to her, so we just had to find a way to contain that," Dasovich said. "She is a great player, and is going to get her points, so we just have to make sure she doesn't get a lot of them."

The Hawks came in with two consecutive wins in which they won by a combined score of 193-90, but they were unable to get going offensively.

Minnetonka forced turnovers and immediately turned those into points going the other way.

"We played really well on defense, and that is something we can be proud of tonight," Fredrickson. "Chaska is a great team and I thought we did a great job in keeping them to 47 (points)."

Chaska drops to 4-2 and will continue its run through the Lake Conference with its next game at home against Wayzata on Friday, Dec. 20.

Minnetonka improves to 4-1, and even after a big win, it is not celebrating too much.

"Just going to get ready for St. Michael (Albertville) on Friday," Fredrickson said.

-- Justin Magill