The chance was there.

After trailing for most of the game, Lakeville South had battled back to within a basket and had the ball in the hands of leading scorer Alex Richter with less than 20 seconds left in the game.

As he had all afternoon, Richter attacked the basket. But Eden Prairie center Connor Nord attacked Richter just as aggressively. Richter elevated, Nord elevated higher. Richter tried to drop a floater over the 6-7 Nord, but he hovered just long enough to swat Richter’s shot back toward the sideline.

Lakeville South’s chance to tie was gone. And two free throws later, Eden Prairie emerged with a 79-75 victory.

“That was pure instinct,” Nord said.

The game unfolded exactly as expected, with Eden Prairie’s depth providing a slight advantage over Richter, a Star Tribune All-Metro selection, and Lakeville South (21-9).

Richter took a beating en route to a game-high 33 points, gaining little help inside because the Cougars’ other big man, Mitchell Leidner, spent much of the game on the bench in foul trouble.

Eden Prairie (26-4) has the luxury of quality athletes up and down the bench. It paid off frequently, whether through the slashing drives of Dylan Stewart, who led the Eagles with 23 points, or the two-way play of Jack Klukas or the relentless attack of Nord, whose presence was obvious on both ends of the court with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

“That is what is so significant,” Eden Prairie coach David Flom said. “When you have that many players you can go to, rarely does everyone have a bad game at the same time. And it makes it so you have to guard everyone.”

While Flom was pleased that the Eagles survived, he said that it will take a more focused effort to get to the championship game.

“One of the reasons we’ve been successful is that we’ve played so intelligently,” Flom said. “We did not make good choices in this game. But we’ve been here plenty of times with the schedule we play. Nothing rattles us. We weathered the storm.”

LAKEVILLE SOUTH

EDEN PRAIRIE