Eagles make a statement

Prologue
Its a heavyweight showdown in the South Suburban as #5AAAA Apple Valley visits #2AAAA Lakeville North in the 1st meeting this season of the conference favorites.  The expected full house in the seats and lining the rails.  Toppers Pizza (sausage) plus 20 more ounces of gatorade are tonight's menu.  Halftime entertaining was the little dribblers (Lakeville very youngsters) dribbling and passing to a mix with this classic included.

Song of the Day: Earth, Wind and Fire - Let's Groove

Number of Teams I've Seen: 67 (17 courts).  13 out of state, 8 girls

Beverage Ticker: 378.7 ounces (3895 Calories)
29 days, 38 games, 2 scrimmages added on

• Pepsi: 120.9 ounces (1510 calories)
• Coke: 60 ounces (720 calories)
• Dr. Pepper: 12 ounces (150 calories)
• Sprite: 20 ounces (240 calories)
• A&W Root Beer (240 calories)
• Red Gatorade: 108.9 ounces (905 calories)
• Red Powerade: 20 ounces (130 calories)

Hot Dog Ticker: 5
Pizza Ticker: 5
Walking Taco Ticker: 3

Game Time:
The stars start very slow in this one.  Instead its Nathan Macho off the Apple Valley bench with a pair of bombs.  Tre Jones assisted 1 of those (maybe 2) and he caps the spurt by converting a turnover.  17-8 Apple Valley at 10:20.  Lakeville North would get right back in it.  Tyler Wahl and Jalen Lucas putback misses and Reuvers hits a 3 in the broken floor.  Then its Reuvers coast to coast grabbing the board on 1 end and taking it all the way for 2 more.  That's the 1st Panther lead at 22-20 outside of 6 minutes left in the half.  Lucas puts back another miss and Wahl scores again to finish the 13-2 Lakeville North run.  26-22 Panthers just before the 4 minute mark.  Reuvers makes 2 freebies but Jones finds Luke Martens for another Eagles 3 just before half.  Tied at 32 as we go to halftime.

Reuvers with a jumper for a 37-35 Lakeville North lead with 15:10 left.  Then its an 13-2 Apple Valley run.  Mohamed Kone with his 2nd layup of the half and Jones to Ely Hendrickson for 3.  Macho runs for 2 more and Jones finishes the run with a hoop.  48-39 Apple Valley as Lakeville North needs a timeout with 10:42 left.  Mason Morse with a floater and Macho buries a kickout for 3.  56-45 Eagles with 7 minutes left.  Jones to Spencer Rolland for a layup plus a hoop of his own.  Kone adds 3-4 FTs and a layup.  67-52 with 2:22 left.  Reuvers would miss 8 straight shots after that early jumper above.  He makes the score interesting with 3 straight triples in the last 1:15.  Its not enough though as Apple Valley comes away with an impressive 71-63 road win.

Post Game
Lakeville North falls to 3-1 with their 1st loss.  They have another tough test at #10AAAA Woodbury on Thursday.  Nate Reuvers leads the Panthers with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks.  But he was only 8-25 from the floor (5-22 start) including 3-16 from inside the arc.  Soph Tyler Wahl with 14 and 12 boards before fouling out.  Loved what Jalen Lucas did for the Panthers with 12 points and he was very active.  Only 3 points (1 3 pointer) from the bench and 12 total from the rest of the roster.

Apple Valley eliminated any doubts about them being in that top group of elite AAAA teams.  Tre Jones leads them with 18 points (7-16 FG), 7 boards and 7 assists.  But it was the superior play of their role guys that made a huge difference.  Nathan Macho outstanding with 3 bombs and 13 points off the bench. Mohamed Kone with 13 points, Mason Morse with 12.  Kone too quick for Lakeville North to handle.  The Eagles are now 5-1.  Up next Madison (WI) East and #4AAAA Maple Grove in the Granite City Classic over the holidays.