Sports
Eden Prairie Knocks Lakeville North Girls Out of Class AAAA State Final
Trailing 22-19 at the half, Eden Prairie rallies to dominate the second half and wins 49-32 over defending Class AAAA Champions Lakeville North in a state semifinal game Thursday; Panthers to play for third place on Saturday
Defending Class AAAA champion Lakeville North led Eden Prairie 22-19 at the half and seemed to be in control of the contest.
That proved illusionary Thursday as the Eden Prairie Eagles shocked the Panthers with a 30-10 second-half outburst to advance to the Class AAAA championship Saturday.
Lakeville North (28-3) will play White Bear Lake (27-4) in the Class AAAA third-place game Saturday at 4 p.m. at Concordia University in St. Paul.
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Eden Prairie (25-4) will meet Hopkins (29-2) for the Class AAA championship Saturday starting at 8 p.m. at Target Center in Minneapolis.
Eden Prairie’s defense didn’t so much create turnovers – the teams were nearly dead even in that department – as the Eagles pressured the Panthers into one bad shot after another. The Panthers made just 14 of 49 field goals, including just 4 of 27 in the second half (14.6 percent).
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Lakeville North also couldn’t buy an outside shot. The Panthers were 0-for-16 from beyond the 3-point arc.
The second half was your basic nightmare for the Panthers. In addition to making just 4 of 27 shots, they were outrebounded 24-14 and had nine turnovers.
In the end it was a combination of a swarming full-court Eden Prairie defense that wore the Panthers down, and a horrible shooting night.
It was the second time Eden Prairie had bested the Panthers this season. Eden Prairie handed Lakeville North one of its only two regular season losses with a 60-46 win back on Dec. 19.
Eden Prairie also dominated at the free-throw line, making 20-of-27 free throws to just 4-of-6 for Lakeville North. The Eagles were called for just 13 personal fouls, while the Panthers netted 22, much to the chagrin of head coach Andy Berkvam. Berkvam let the officials know of his displeasure several times in the second half.
Lakeville North star senior guard Rachel Banham had a frustrating night, perhaps because of trying to do too much. Banham scored just 10 points on 4-of-15 from the field, including going 0-for-5 from the three-point line. She also had two turnovers and four fouls against four rebounds and one assist.
With Banham misfiring, the Panthers needed senior center Apiew Ojulu to have a big night inside. Ojulu scored 12 – all in the first half -- to lead the Panthers, but it wasn’t enough to make up the slack. Eden Prairie also worked hard to deny Ojulu the ball inside in the second half. None of the other Panthers had more than four points against the Eagles.
