BLOOMINGTON KENNEDY EAGLES TOOK ON THE EDEN PRAIRIE EAGLES IN A REGION BOYS' BASKETBALL GAME

In a battle of the birds the Bloomington Kennedy Eagles matched up against the Eden Prairie Eagles in a region semifinal boys' basketball game at Chaska.

Eden Prairie jumped out to an early 6-2 lead with 16:00 left in the first half. Kennedy called its first timeout with 15:26 left in the first half. The score was 9-2 advantage Eden Prairie.

Eden Prairie was able to hit shots from everywhere on the floor. Both teams looked fresh and played with a lot of swagger. They dove on the floor after loose balls and went after rebounds. Eden Prairie looked to get the ball in the hands of guard Abrian Carpenter. Carpenter was able to drive to the basket hard and make layups. His teammates did a good job of finding him when he was open on the floor.

Kennedy maintained their poise and kept running their offense. They did a good job of moving the ball around to find their shots outside the arch, while Eden Prairie did a good job of getting into the lanes and deflecting passes.

Both teams moved the ball well on the offensive end in the first half. Eden Prairie played mostly man-to-man on the defensive end. Kennedy switched between man-to-man and zone defense.

At halftime the score was Eden Prairie 34 and Kennedy 26.

Eden Prairie started the second half in the zone. They took an 11 point lead at 40-29 lead with 15:39 left in the second half. This prompted Kennedy to call a timeout.

Despite being down by eleven points, Kennedy tried to work their way back into the game. However the lead was insurmountable.

Andre Wallace was all over the floor for Eden Prairie. He found his shot early. Most of his shots were from inside the paint. Tonight Andre did not see a shot he did not like. His motto seemed to be ‘have ball will shoot.’

Kennedy simply could not find the range in the second half. Eden Prairie was too quick for them. Kennedy tried to make a run late in the half however, Eden Prairie was not having it. They clamped down on the defensive end and closed out the game.

I thought that both teams played well and left everything that they had on the court. Eden Prairie came away with a 17 point victory with the score the 74-57 victory over Kennedy.

The leading scorers for Kennedy were Jumah'ri Turner with 14 points, and Darrian Pitman and Rico Gunn with 10 points. Kennedy shot 22-52 from the field that included going 5-14 from behind the three-point line. They were 8-12 from the free throw line. The Kennedy bench scored a total of 10 points.

The leading scorers for Eden Prairie were Sander Mohn with 22 points, Andre Wallace with 18 points and Grant Shaeffer with 16 points. They shot 25-52 from the field and that included going 6-9 from behind the three-point line. They were 18-26 from the free throw line. The Eden Prairie bench didn't score any points.