Eagles snatch victory away from Hornets rally

Prologue
Its the end of the first rotation of the Lake Conference schedule in this abbreviated season.   Tonight's letter is the letter E for Eden Prairie and Edina.  Always a hard fought battle when these 2 play.  Quality tunes on the public address with AC/DC, Michael Jackson, Survivor and the 1-hit wonder Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners.

Game Time
Coach David Flom not happy with the Eden Prairie and he takes time after 2 possessions and down 5-0.  Forward Brady Helgren with 10 of the 1st 13 Edina points.  A 3 point play and a straight away triple in that.  Eden Prairie hanging around via the offense board.  Their run comes thanks to a turnover stretch.  Will Foster with a 3 to start the run and bonus free throws to end it.  Its an 11-1 run and gives EP a 28-21 lead late in the half.  Edina trims that to 30-26 at the half.  Helgren 14 points but nothing in the last 7+ minutes.

Edina made many pushes to almost take the lead but Eden Prairie never would give up the lead.  Helgren 2 and the foul, Sammy Presthus hoop and misses his chance at the 3 point play.  40-39 EP with 13:38 left.  Eagles go on a 9-2 run with a Cole Tiran turnaround to end it.  49-41 EP with 10 minutes left.  Helgren from the deep beyond and then to the post.  7-0 Edina run cuts it back to 1.  Defensive guy Will Foster plus his 17 points picks up a 4th foul with 8:12 left.  Matt Kelley and Ryan Warren with triples.  Chiddi Obiazor on the offense glass for 1 hoop and adds 2 more bunnies.  15-4 Eden Prairie run and they're up 64-52 as we go under 5 minutes left.  No further danger from there.  Eden Prairie wins 71-66

Post Game
Edina falls to 3-4 overall, 2-4 in the Lake Conference.  Its no easier as they visit Minnehaha on Tuesday.  Brady Helgren with 27 points to lead all scorers.  He was able to use his size against the smaller Eden Prairie bigs in addition to knocking down a couple of 3s.  Sammy Presthus with 11 of his 15 points in the 2nd half.  Most of that attacking the rim.  Gabe Jobe with 10 of his 12 in the 2nd half.  Edina also with a notable young JV squad that looks to be one to watch in a couple of years. 

Eden Prairie improves to 4-3 overall, 3-3 in the Lake Conference. The Eagles end up with 4 players in double figures.  Chiddi Obiazor and Will Foster each finish with 19 points.  Ryan Warren with good bench minutes and 12 points.  Cole Tiran adds 11.  Obiazor with 3 of his 5 second half buckets helped put the game away after the 3rd time Edina cut the lead to 1.  Eden Prairie is at #3AAAA Hopkins on Tuesday and then host Buffalo in a rematch of a game they lost by 1 point a couple weeks ago.

Four Factors

FACTOR	Edina	Eden Prairie
Effective FG %	52.9%	58.2%
Offensive Rebound %	29%	37.5%
Free Throw Rate	33.3%	21.8%
Turnover %	23.1%	18.5%
Points Per Possession	1.02	1.09

15 Edina turnovers were costly including a couple during the final run that pushed the lead to 12.  Only 1 3 point make in the 2nd half for the Hornets.  They were a hot 15-27 (55.6%) shooting in the 2nd half but EP almost shot 50% themselves in the 2nd half.