Eden Prairie snapped a three-game losing streak with a 68-59 win over Eagan on Feb. 10. Now the No. 4-4A Eagles will have most of the week to prepare for a streaking Champlin Park team.
After starting the season 12-1, Eden Prairie has gone 4-4 with its offense struggling to score at times. The Eagles recorded three of their four lowest point totals of the season in the losses, yet they have shown plenty of firepower and boast four players averaging at least 10 points. Austin Andrews leads the way with 19 ppg, and he gets support from Drake Dobbs (17.2 ppg), Connor Christensen (12.2 ppg) and John Henry (11.9 ppg).
Even with the recent troubles, the Eagles (16-5, 2-3) have the opportunity in the final weeks of the regular season to prove themselves as real contenders for a state title. Three of Eden Prairie's final five games come against teams currently ranked in the top 10 of Class 4A, including No. 1 Cretin-Derham Hall and No. 2 Hopkins.
The third game is against a Champlin Park team that has found its groove after a rough start to the season. The No. 9-4A Rebels (14-5, 11-2) cracked top-10 rankings last week thanks to a seven-game winning streak, and Champlin Park is starting to look like a real contender for the state title a year after coming up short in the championship game.
This week will be big for the Rebels, who have two Northwest Suburban Conference North Division games on either side of the contest with Eden Prairie, including Monday against Blaine — a team trailing the Rebels by one game in the division standings.
Navy commit Josiah Strong leads Champlin Park with 22.2 ppg, while junior Bennett Otto has stepped up his offensive output from 4.2 ppg last year to 16 ppg this season.