February has been a rough month for Eden Prairie. The Eagles have fallen out of the Class 4A top-10 rankings and have lost five of their last eight games. However, there is still hope for Eden Prairie to end the regular season on a high note, especially if the Eagles can pass a stringent test against the top-ranked team in the class.
A solid performance against top-ranked Cretin-Derham Hall on Wednesday will give Eden Prairie confidence entering the Class 4A, Section 2 tournament. The Eagles (18-7, 4-4) have defeated every section opponent they faced in the regular season, including Chaska -- the team that kept the Eagles out of last season's state tournament.
The sophomore duo of Austin Andrews (18.8 ppg) and Drake Dobbs (18.4 ppg) leads Eden Prairie on offense, and playing a high-quality opponent before entering the postseason off could be the extra dose of experience the young Eagles need to make it back to the state tournament.
Cretin-Derham Hall suffered its lone loss of the season to Edina on Dec. 7, and the players seemed to have taken it personally. The No. 1-4A Raiders (22-1, 14-0) have won 20 straight games, a streak they will be looking to extend to 23 by the end of a busy final week of the regular season.
Minnesota commit Daniel Oturu averages 19 points, 11.6 assists and 6.1 blocks per game, and the 6-foot-10 post poses a monumental challenge on both sides of the ball for Eden Prairie.