Quantcast
skip navigation

Eden Prairie headed to title game

By Star Tribune staff reports, 03/24/11, 10:30PM CDT

Share

Eagles take down Osseo 67-56 in Class 4A semifinals


Eden Prairie's Dylan Stewart (24) pulled down a second half rebound. Marlin Levison, Star Tribune

At first, Eden Prairie did not succeed. But rather than try, try again from long-range Thursday against Osseo, the Eagles instead tried a different tactic.

A frigid 0-for-8 from three-point territory in the first half against the Orioles in the Class 4A state semifinals, Grant Soderberg attempted — and missed — Eden Prairie’s ninth a little less than four minutes into the second.

It wound up being the last.

The rest of the way, second-seeded Eden Prairie relied on solid inside play and a superior effort on the boards to pull away in a 67-56 victory.

It puts the Eagles into the state championship game for the first time in school history.

“A couple of things we really take a lot of pride in is our toughness and our effort and I think that showed,” coach David Flom said. “We couldn’t make a shot in the first half … and when you’re not making shots you have to be able to defend very well, and I think we did that.”

In addition to containing Orioles’ guard Terez VanPelt to 5-for-15 in the game, Eden Prairie cleaned up on the glass. The Eagles outrebounded Osseo by 30 (51-21), yet no one player had more than nine for the game.

“Wow,” Eden Prairie wing Dylan Stewart said as he peered over the final stat sheet. “It’s our main focus point to outrebound teams, but it’s shocking to see that.”

Stewart finished with a game-high 24 points, 16 coming after halftime.

Osseo’s Joey Sonnenfeld had 21 points in the losing effort. He got the third-seeded Orioles to within five with 90 seconds to play on a three-pointer. But fouls and three turnovers down the stretch plagued any hope at pulling even.

“They got rebounds and they got to loose balls,” Osseo coach Tim Theisen said. “Those are things that typically go our way.”

Section Playoffs Leaders