On a day Edina won a game by 29 points, it fell out of Minnesota Basketball News' Class 4A top-10 rankings. It won't be easy for the Hornets to get back in. But, then, very little has been easy for them this season.
Edina has already played eight of the 10 teams in the Class 4A rankings from Feb. 6, and the Hornets have three more matchups against ranked opponents slated over the next eight days. They’ve gone just 1-7 against ranked opponents, but they lost two of them without their scoring and defensive leader Jack Middleton. In the other five losses, the Hornets were outscored by a total of 24 points. And the game Edina won, an 80-79 decision on Jan. 11 at Hopkins, which was the No. 1 team in the Class 4A rankings released by Minnesota Basketball News from Jan. 9, was a teaser of the best kind.
This Tuesday, the Hornets get a chance to prove their earlier victory was no fluke when they play at Hopkins in our Top Game of the Week.
Edina coach Joe Burger is not predicting a victory, or even putting it on a wish list. He just wants another strong test for a team he hopes can develop into a state tournament entrant out of the state's most competitive large-school section.
"Scheduling top teams throughout the season really is an advantage when it comes to learning and building confidence for playing your best basketball at the end of the year," Burger said via email. "We’re going to benefit from big wins, close games, and even lopsided losses against the best because all of our guys know it’s part of our process to continually improve for when it actually matters.
"There’s risk involved ... but we have guys who [have] bought into that team goal of winning three section games. Regardless of who we play in our section, our players know that we’ve played the strongest teams throughout the year and can compete with anyone."
Class 4A, Section 2 includes No. 2-4A Prior Lake, No. 6-4A Shakopee, No. 7-4A Eden Prairie and No. 8-4A Chaska. After facing Hopkins, Edina (12-7, 2-2) visits No. 10-4A Wayzata on Friday, then hosts Eden Prairie four days later.
Middleton (25.6 points per game) leads an improving group that includes Jacob Hutson (19.9 ppg), whose tip-in basket in the closing seconds proved to be the winning points in the first game against Hopkins.
Zeke Nnaji (24.9 ppg) and Kerwin Walton (15.9 ppg) lead Hopkins, which has won four of six games against ranked Class 4A teams this season. A 75-67 loss to No. 1-3A DeLaSalle on Feb. 6 ended a six-game winning streak for the Royals (18-3, 3-1).