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Sports

South Basketball Handles Prior Lake

Pressure defense and a strong second half boost the Cougars to a comfortable victory over the Lakers.

The Lakeville South boy’s basketball team beat Prior Lake handily 70-47 on Tuesday night at .

After a slow start to the game, the Cougars started to come alive with a few minutes left in the first half. They went into halftime with a 15 point lead, 30-15.

Then, after the half, South started to take over the game.

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“We came out and we didn’t want to be flat,” Lakeville South Assistant Coach Bob Schweim said.  “That was the goal, because the last couple games we came out in the first five minutes and played weak, letting the other team get ahead of us.”

South started to play a pressure full-court defense in the second half, which forced the Lakers into numerous turnovers. The Cougars turned the Prior Lake turnovers into points, and quickly widened their lead to 22 points, 40-18, with 15 minutes left in the second half.  

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Senior forwards Alex Richter and John Christensen started to heat up in the second half. Senior guard Riley West and senior forward Peter Barnes also stepped up their play on the defensive end to force turnovers.

South had their way with the Lakers until the Cougar starters went to the bench with three minutes left in the game. The junior varsity squad held the lead until the end.

The scoring fell in a familiar way for the Cougars. Richter lead the squad with 22 points, Christensen had 17, junior center Mitchell Leidner put in 11, and senior forward Spencer Pankonin scored 7.

The win puts South at 16-5 overall on the season. They find themselves in second place in the South Suburban Conference behind the Eagan Wildcats and ahead of the Eastview Lightning.

Their next game is against Bloomington Jefferson on Feb 19 at 7:15 p.m. at Lakeville South High School. 

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