Lakeville South Beats Eagan, Stays in League Race

The South Suburban standings will give you some surprises if you have spent the winter just looking at Class AAAA state rankings. It's a fun race and Lakeville South's 60-57 win over Eagan keeps them in that race.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Lakeville South Wins</h2>   Last night the Cougars got behind 13-2 early but turned the game around to win by a score. The Cougars and Wildcats are balanced teams but the Cougars seemed to have just bit more balance on offense and they were able to limit some of Eagan's top scoring options with a good defensive effort. Definitely have to give a head nod to [player_tooltip player_id='2121334' first='Ryker' last='Sanders'] who played a key part in a team defensive effort in limiting [player_tooltip player_id='1560747' first='Alex' last='Schroepfer'] to 4 of 12 shooting.   I would say five Cougars found a number of ways to offensively make a collective effort.   One. [player_tooltip player_id='2400080' first='Nolan' last='Greene']. The sophomore scored 12 points on six of eight shooting and I was really impressed with the way he moved within the Cougar offense and the way he fluidly scored with the ball. Niko Medved has opened our eyes to ball movement and constant player activity and we are seeing Cade Tyson score in active ways and with that jumper. Greene's off ball activity was big for his scoring total.Nolan leads the Cougars his year with 13 points a game.   Two. [player_tooltip player_id='1560830' first='Casey' last='Fliehe']. Casey had some mid-game threes, a key And1 and some late foul shots that were all important. I was also impressed with his defensive contributions in limiting Eagan's really good shooter Mikey McKenzie to two scores.   Three. Nate Owata. I didn't know much about Nate until last night but he is a 6'6 listed senior averaging just under a dozen points a game. And last night his 14 shot attempts was six more than any other individual player on the team so he is a key figure we need to see again. Nate scored 11 points including a three.   Four. [player_tooltip player_id='2140615' first='Gavin' last='Stuart']. Gavin is a junior that hit two first half threes including a buzzer beater just before the break. He scored 11 points on four shots and played a big part.   Five. [player_tooltip player_id='1560811' first='Collin' last='Johnson']. Johnson scores ten a game but last night his job wasn't to be taking shots, it was to break down the defense and set up the offense for his team. He finished with five assists, about another five hockey assists, and then another 30 possessions that he started very well that there is no stat for. Plus he scored on two of his three attempts.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">South Suburban Standings</h2>   This win improved South to 9-2 on the year, and 3-2 in league play. South, Eagan, and pretty much nobody else can afford another league loss at the moment if they want to stay with Prior Lake.   Prior Lake? Yes Prior Lake.   I know many left them for dead after a rough start but those were no league games, in league play Prior Lake has defeated Farmington by 15, Shakope by 5, Lakeville South by 39 (Yes, 39, that is not a mistake), Burnsville also by 39, and Apple Valley by 17.   Prior Lake is undefeated in league play while Farmington, Rosemount and Lakeville all have two losses. Those teams are in a better spot than Eagan, Apple Valley, Eastview and Shakopee who all have three league losses. Lakeville North is at the bottom at 1-4.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Eagan Tough Stretch</h2>   Eagan started the season great with eight straight wins but an undefeated vs winless result of the winless (Shakopee) getting the win has led to a four game losing streak. The schedule has been tough as Hopkins, Farmington and South are all good teams, but it doesn't get much easier. Next up is Prior Lake and next Tuesday that huge 3AAAA game with Apple Valley is staring them in the face.   Eagan is in a good spot though to bounce back. Schroepfer does so much: primary ball handler, primary scorer, a top rebounder, top creator. Had a tough shooting night last night making 4 of 12 for his 12 points but he also had seven boards and six assists.   [player_tooltip player_id='2400734' first='Tanner' last='Mulkern'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2421164' first='Ryan' last='Miskowicz'] are two hard working players that caught the eye last night (Mulkern had 13 points on six attempts) and [player_tooltip player_id='2118833' first='Kevin' last='Kemp'] was tough to stop when he got good touches around the basket (10 points on 5 of 8 shooting).

The South Suburban standings will give you some surprises if you have spent the winter just looking at Class AAAA state rankings. It's a fun race and Lakeville South's 60-57 win over Eagan keeps them in that race.