Lakeville North brings down East Ridge

Lakeville North forward Jace Hernandez (35) goes up strong to help the Panthers win over the Raptors. Photo by Dan Beise, SportsEngine

Lakeville North forward Jace Hernandez (35 in black) goes up strong to the basket to help the Panthers win over the Raptors. Photo by Dan Beise, SportsEngine

A top-10 matchup between state-ranked teams is a difficult way to start a season.

And the way the first few minutes went for Lakeville North, its players might have been ready since last March.

The Panthers jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first five minutes of Tuesday’s matchup against visiting East Ridge, building to an 87-56 win.

The game was a matchup between top-10 teams in Minnesota Basketball News’ Class 4A preseason state rankings, and the No. 2 Panthers were happy to play in front of a home crowd once again.

“There was a lot of anticipation building up to this game within the team,” said Nolan Winter, the senior forward who scored a team-high 24 points. “We were all dying to get out here. The practices are good to work on stuff, but at the end of the day we just want to go out there and compete.”

Photo gallery: East Ridge vs. Lakeville North

Lakeville North might have the opportunity to generate a few more one-sided scores as the season continues. Winter and junior Jack Robison, who scored 17 points Tuesday, have gained attention as commits to the University of Wisconsin’s basketball program.

But Lakeville North has plenty of other talent in the lineup. Matt Drake and Hudson Vaith each also scored 13 points in Tuesday’s win. And Lakeville North head coach John Oxton said the team is also missing senior Sam Nolan, currently out with an injury but a player he hopes will be back soon as a contributor.

“I’m super proud of everybody’s effort,” Oxton said. “Defensively, we’re much improved from last year. That was kind of our issue last year, and we’ve just made a lot of progress with that.”

With a deep roster, the Panthers are hoping to improve on last year’s season which ended earlier than they might have hoped. Lakeville North lost to eventual Class 4A, Section 1 champion Owatonna 83-66 in a section semifinals road game on March 12. The Huskies later defeated fellow South Suburban Conference team Farmington 69-61 to wrap up a spot in the state tournament.

With the opportunity to return many of the players who contributed to last year’s 19-win season, the Panthers have spent all offseason setting their sights on a deeper run.

“The first day, after that loss, we were like, ‘Alright, we can’t let that happen again,’” Winter recalled. “‘We’re going to work this offseason.’”

East Ridge forward Charlie Bern (35) makes a strong defensive play against the Panthers. Photo by Dan Beise, SportsEngine

First Report

Lakeville North started the night on a 13-0 run and never looked back in an 87-56 win vs. East Ridge at home Tuesday.

The Panthers (1-0) led from the opening basket in the matchup between top-10 teams in the Minnesota Basketball News’ Class 4A preseason state rankings. Lakeville North, No. 2 in Class 2A, entered halftime with a 40-27 lead and continued to add on over the final 18 minutes.

Nolan Winter led the Panthers with 24 points on the night, and fellow Wisconsin commit Jack Robison was second on the team with 17.

The Raptors' (0-1) leading scorer was Charlie Theis who finished with 22 points.

Lakeville North guard Hudson Vaith (22) blocks a shot early in the first half. Photo by Dan Beise, SportsEngine

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